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STATE OF ILLINOIS 
STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

FRANK W. DeWOLF, Director. 


EXTRACT FROM BULLETIN 20 


The Carlyle 

Oil Field and Surrounding Territory 

BY 

E, W. SHAW 
U. S. Geological Survey 

In Cooperation with 

State Geological Survey 


The 

Carlinville Oil and Gas Field 

BY 

FRED H. KAY 
State Geological Survey 


URBANA 
University of Illinois 
19 12 


















STATE OF ILLINOIS 

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
FRANK W. DeWOLF, Director. 


EXTRACT FROM BULLETIN 20 


The Carlyle 

Oil Field and Surrounding Territory 

BY 

E. W. SHAW 
U. S. Geological Survey 

In Cooperation with 

State Geological Survey 


The 

Carlinville Oil and Gas Field 

BY 


FRED H. KAY 
State Geological Survey 


URBANA 
University of Illinois 
19 12 









Springfield, III. 

Illinois State Journal Co., State Printers 

19 12 


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STATE GEOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 


Charles S. Deneen, Chairman, Governor of Illinois. 

Thomas C. Chamberlin, Vice-Chairman. 

Edmund J. J a vies. Secretary, President of the University of 
Illinois. 


Frank W. DeWolf, Director. 

Fred H. Kay, Assistant State Geologist. 














. 









THE CARLYLE OIL FIELD AND SURROUNDING 

TERRITORY. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page . 

Introduction. 7 

Area treated in report. 7 

Objects and methods of work. 8 

Oil and gas prospecting. s 

Geology of the region. 9 

Stratigraphy. 9 

Rocks older than Carboniferous. 10 

Carboniferous system. 14 

Mississippian series. 14 

Pennsylvanian series... 15 

Pottsville sandstone. 15 

Carbondale formation..,. 16 

McLeansboro formation. 16 

Quaternary system. 16 

Summary of geologic history. 17 

Structure. 18 

Method of representing structure. IS 

Use of structure contours. 19 

Accuracy of structure contours. 19 

Carlyle anticline. 20 

Irishtown anticline or structural terrace. 21 

Bartelso dome. 21 

Highland dome. 21 

Hoffman dome.-. 22 

Nashville dome. 23 

Venedy dome. 23 

Darmstadt anticline. 23 

White Oak anticline. 23 

Other anticlinal features. 24 

Carlyle oil field. 25 

History. 25 

Topography. 27 

Geology. 2< 

Stratigraphy. 27 

Chester group. 27 

Pottsville sandstone. 27 

Carbondale formation... 28 

McLeansboro formation. 28 

Quaternary deposits.'. 2S 

Structure. 28 

Commercial conditions. 29 

Product of the wells. 29 

Costs. 30 

Method of getting and handling the oil. 31 

Accidents. 32 

Fire losses. 32 

Well records. 32 

Inside Carlyle field. 32 

Outside Carlyle field. 36 




















































LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Plates. 

Page . 

II Map of southwestern Illinois showing geological structure, and location of oil fields, wells, 

and coal prospects. 8 

III Stratigraphic section from Monroe county northeast through Carlyle oil field. 10 

IV Stratigraphic section from Randolph county northeast into Marion county. 12 

V Structure section A-A from Monroe county northeast through Carlyle field. IS 

VI Map of Carlyle oil field showing locations of wells and topography. 2g 

VII Map illustrating character, thickness, and vertical position of the Carlyle oil sand. 28 









THE CARLYLE OIL FIELD AND SURROUNDING 

TERRITORY. 

(By E. W. Shaw.) 

U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperaton with State Geological Survey. 


INTRODUCTION. 

I lie excitement attending the discovery of oil at Carlyle in the spring 
of 1911 was unusually intense. In a very short time, however, syste¬ 
matic development began and the field took its place among the pro¬ 
ducers of the State. As development progressed, it became evident that 
the productive area had been outlined more or less clearly and general 
interest shifted to the question of the existence of other oil pools in 
the vicinity. 

1 his report attempts to point out certain areas where the geological 
structure is favorable for the accumulation of oil and gas in the region 
surrounding Carlvle. 

o t 


Area Treated ix This Report. 

The present report is preliminary and somewhat general. It treats 
not only the developed oil field northwest of Carlyle, but a large part of 
Clinton, Washington, and St. Clair counties, and also parts of Monroe 
and Madison counties (See Plate II). 

I his district i& on the whole a flat prairie but there are numerous 
hills and valleys and considerable woods. The altitude ranges from less 
than 400 feet along some of the larger streams to about 600 at the tops 
of some of the hills in the central and northeastern parts, and 700 along 
the bluffs of Mississippi river. A large part of the surface lies between 
460 and 480 feet above sea level. Kaskaskia river flows through the 
district from the northeast, receiving from the north the waters of 
Beaver, Shoal, Sugar, Silver, and Richland creeks, and from the south 
the vateis m C looked, Elkhorn, and Big Miuddy creeks. The principal 
towns are Carlyle, Nashville, Okawville, Mascoutah, Trenton, Belle¬ 
ville, Freeburg, New Athens, and Marissa. 

The basis of this report is a detailed survey of areas known as the 
Carlyle, Okawville, and New’ Athens quadrangles, made by the writer in 
the summei of 1411, together with observations in surrounding territory 
made in part by others in 1911 and preceding summers. The"work was 
done under a cooperative agreement between the Illinois and the U. S. 
Geological Surveys. The material gathered by Professor J. A. ITdden 



8 


in the Belleville and Breese quadrangles, by Professor Stuart Weller in 
the Waterloo and Kimmswick quadrangles, and by P. S. Blatchley in 
the Sandoval oil field 1 has been freely drawn upon. Thanks is due to 
the many oil operators, contractors, drillers, and others who freely gave 
information, and particularly to those who kept careful logs and made 
other observations especially for the Survey. To all these the writer 
gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness. 


Object and Methods of Work. 

The investigation which is the basis of this report was not primarily 
a study of the oil and gas of the region, but was intended to cover all 
lines of geologic work. It included the study of coal, clay, gravel, lime¬ 
stone, sandstone, and other rocks. The results were in part of imme¬ 
diate value in the exploitation of the mineral resources of the region, 
and in part purely scientific, having only an indirect economic bearing. 
Most of the observations were made on outcrops, surface features, and 
wells in the process of being drilled, but much information was obtained 
in the form of records of wells drilled both during and before the sum¬ 
mer of 1911. In the producing oil territory the writer was able to visit 
most of the wells several times during the course of drilling and thus 
obtain first-hand knowledge of many of the strata being passed through. 

In this report the method of treatment will be first to describe the 
rocks of the entire region in general, and then those of the Carlyle oil 
field in particular, with the oil and gas that they contain. 


Oil and Gas Prospecting. 

At first thought it would seem to be very difficult to work out the 
principles which govern the accumulation of oil and "as far below the 
surface. Indeed, after much careful observation many oil operators are 
only the more firmly convinced that no one before prospecting can tell 
anything about where these valuable resources exist. There is a com¬ 
mon expression that “the drill only will tell the story.” Many, if not 
most, men when they begin to study the problem try to find something 
of significance in surface features. One, from his more or less limited 
experience, will say that valley bottoms are the best places to prospect; 
another, having had experience in a different district, will say that hill¬ 
tops are best, and a third conceives that a certain peculiar arrangement 
of hills and valleys is most favorable. The geologist in Illinois can see 
no connection between surface features and oil and gas pools except in 
the obscure way that the “lay” of the rocks has affected the surface 
relief. The bed rock in the Illinois oil fields is covered by a mantle of 
glacial drift, which commonlv conceals the structure of the underlvin" 
strata. 


1 Blatchley, R. S., Illinois Oil Resources: Bull. Ill. State Geol. Survey No. 10, pp. 42-176. 



ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


BULL. NO. 20, PLATE H. 




LIST OF WELLS 


1 

Smith 

38 

Koch 

2 

Munton 

39 

HoJthaus 

3 

Highland 

40 

Walker 

4 

Peek 

41 

Johnson 

5 

McQuade 

42 

Sc h la r man 

6 

Michel 

43 

Dunn 

7 

Petermeyer 

44 

Kuesler 

8 

Huey (Seiffert) 

45 

Germantown 

9 

Dumstorf 

46 

Verrell 

10 

Bechtold 

47 

Suhl 

11 

Beckemeyer 

48 

Sherman 

12 

Mahlandt 

49 

Schrader 

13 

Rudolph 

50 

Heimann 

14 

Lemuel 

51 

Gehing 

15 

Delet' 

52 

Wellinghoff 

16 

Zieren 

53 

Herman 

17 

Morelock 

54 

Postel 

18 

Diekempter 

55 

Postel 

19 

Koch 

56 

Okawville 

20 

Murphy 

57 

Dix 

21 

Bond 

58 

Reichert 

22 

Sautman 

59 

Addienlle 

23 

Rieman 

60 

Daab 

24 

Gurdcs 

61 

Grossman 

25 

Laux 

62 

Daab 

26 

Kellerman 

63 

Daesch 

27 

Wilkins 

64 

Klingler 

28 

Walker 

65 

Keim 

29 

Koch 

66 

Robinson 

30 

(Coal prospect) 

67 

Thompson 

31 

Thomas 

68 

Finke 

32 

Morelock 

69 

Hergenroeder 

33 

Beckemeyer 

70 

Smith 

34 

Rieman 

71 

Finke 

35 

Schlaffly 

72 

Meek 

36 

Schla ffly 

73 

Stevenson 

37 

Herzog 

74 

Morelock 

76 

Shaffer & Smathers 

75 

Twiss 

77 

Harris 




LEGEND 


County line 


Altitude of Herrin 
coal (No.6) 

Contours on Herrin 
coal inside of outcrop 

Fault lines 

^ Structure section 


County line'following river 

__ Township line 

Outcrop of Herrin coal 


Contours on Herrin 
coal outside of outcrop 

Line of contact of Mississippian 
and Pennsylvanian systems 


GEOLOGICAL MAP 

PART OF 

SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS 

PREPARED BY 

u. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

AND THE 

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

IN CO-OPERATION 

1912 


Scale of Miles. 


12 


18 


Drawn by A.R.Alger 


Map of southwestern Illinois showing geologic structure and location of oil fields, wells, and coal prospects. 






















































































































































































9 


GEOLOGY OF THE REGION. 

Stratigraphy. 

Stratigraphy is a description of the layers of rock, including their 
order and relative positions. In Clinton, Washington, and St Clair 
counties and adjacent territory, all the known materials of the earth 
}ing within three thousand or more feet from the surface are of sedi¬ 
mentary origin. They were once either in the form of particles or 
else dissolved m water and they were all transported and deposited in 
their present position by water, or wind, or ice. 

Most, if not all, of the limestones of the region were once limy muds 
such as are found on many parts of the ocean bottom today. In them 
were buried the shells of animals that lived in the sea at the time. The 
resulting layers of limestone with marine fossils show that in ao-es o'one 
by southern Illinois lay beneath the sea. 

The shales and clays were once ordinary muds—some of them depos¬ 
ited on the ocean bottom and some of them on land—for the region 
was not covered by sea water continuously. The marine mud consisted 
of fine sediment delivered to the sea by rivers from some land area and 
by waves which beat against the shore, just as sediment is being carried 
mto the sea at the present time. In the sea water it slowly settled to 
the bottom, forming layers of more or less uniform thickness. The sea 
was then, as it is now, inhabited by animals and plants. Almost all of 
the plant and most of the animal matter decayed without leaving any 
impression on the bottom, but now and then conditions were such that 
hard parts, such as shells, when buried in the mud, left very defini e 
impressions. Ye find these impressions or remains today and call the n 
fossils. 

Some of the shale and clay having no marine fossils may have been 
spread out on coastal plains a little above the level of the sea ; some of t 
certainly was, for it contains impressions of land plants and animals. 

The sandstone was once sand and was deposited in sea water, on land 
in lakes, or possibly by wind, for sand is carried and deposited in all 
of these ways; and since, as a rule, sand is poor material to receive and 
preserve impressions of plant and animal remains, and since other thor¬ 
oughly reliable ways for distinguishing sea from land deposits have not 
yet been devised, it is not always possible to state what the origin of 
each of the sandstones has been. 

Coal was formed in extensive marshes very near sea level. It con¬ 
sists of more or less disintegrated plant matter. Living plants are com¬ 
posed of water and many liquid and solid carbohydrates, resins, waxes, 
etc. Coal is made up of the same materials, except that most of tie 
water and many of the products of the chemical transformation or 
decomposition of some of these materials, have been pressed out. 

The rocks of the earth form naturally several systems, each of which 
represents a long period of time—several millions of years. Not all of 
these systems are represented in the region under discussion (See Plates 
III and IY). The oldest definitely known to be present is the Ordo- 
ician, but this is no doubt underlain by Cambrian and still older rocks. 


10 


The Silurian and Devonian, which lie above the Ordovician and else¬ 
where include strata thousands of feet in thickness, are thin in this area, 
and it is possible that the Silurian may be absent. Above the Devonian 
lies the Carboniferous system, which includes everything from the bottom 
of the Mississippian limestones to the uppermost hard rocks of the 
region. The age of the Carboniferous dates back about halfway in 
geologic time. Four systems above the Carboniferous are lacking and 
the only remaining one represented is the Quaternary to which belong 
the clay, sand, and gravel lying upon the shale, sandstone, and lime¬ 
stone of the Carboniferous system and forming the surface of all of this 
region. 

The various layers of rock are described in order begilining at the 
bottom. 

ROCKS OLDER THAN CARBONIFEROUS. 

In the region under discussion the Cambrian system lies so far 
beneath the surface that it has not been reached by the deepest wells. 
Judging by its character in other areas where it is known, it is probably 
a great sandstone about a thousand feet thick which is called the “Pots¬ 
dam.” This rock is persistent and probably underlies all of south¬ 
western Illinois. 

The Ordovician system is presumably made up of four principal 
divisions. The lowermost one does not outcrop and has not been reached 
in any of the deep wells. It is a magnesian limestone probably over 
400 feet thick and has been called the “Lower Magnesian limestone 
series” or Prairie du Chien group. 

The second division is the St. Peter sandstone. To the north where 
the rock is well exposed it is 100 feet or more in thickness and consists 
of well rounded grains of sand. 

Above the St. Peter is several hundred feet of rock which is pre¬ 
dominantly dolomite, but includes some limestone and a little shale, 

v # ' 

particularly in the lowermost part. This rock is frequently referred 
to as the “Galena-Trenton” limestone because it seems to be, in part 
at least, equivalent to the Trenton limestone of New York and other- 
states, and in part to the Galena dolomite of northwestern Illinois, the 
relations of these formations not yet having been satisfactorily worked 
out. The extract thickness of these rocks in Clinton, Washington, and 
St. Clair counties is not known. Only the uppermost part is exposed 
and that is in the river bluff at Yalmeyer in Monroe county. It is 
possible that over 400 feet are assignable to this division of the Ordo¬ 
vician. 

The next beds are of Cincinnatian (Upper Ordovician) age and are 
more or less shaly. These, like the underlying beds, have not yet been 
identified with certainty because the well records are not detailed enough 
to give identification characteristics; but the rocks are probably present 
under the entire district, and if specimens containing fossils could be 
obtained, identification would be easy. 


ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. BULL NO. 20, PLATE m. 


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.. ra rlvle oil field. Records adjusted to Herrin coal (No. 6) regardless of surface elevations. 

Stratigraphic section from Monroe county northeast through l y 
























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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11 


r I lie Silurian system which includes the Niagara group (the basal 
formation of which, in New York and other eastern states is the 
Clinton) is probably thin, if present at all, in the area under con¬ 
sideration. 

The Devonian system for the most part is also difficult to identify 
from ordinary well records, but a hard black shale belonging in the 
uppermost part of the Devonian seems to be the representative of the 
system. It is found in some of the deep borings, particularly those on 
the Petermeyer and Herzog farms near Carlyle, records of which are 
given below. Older Devonian strata probably underlie this shale and 
consist of limestone and sandstone as in Jackson and other counties. 

The following records are of wells which have reached a part of the 
rocks described thus far (See also Plates III and IV). 

Well No. 1, on Hergenroeder farm. 

Location—Sec. 20, T. 2 S., R. 9 W. 

Altitude—560 feet. 


Thickness Depth— 

—feet: feet. 


Dark sand. 

Yellow lime. 

Dark shale. 

White lime. 

Gray lime. 

White lime. 

Red rock. 

Limestone. 

Flinty lime. 

Sandy lime. 

Red rock. 

White lime. 

White break shale. 

Sand (oil). 

Shale... 

Gray lime. 

Limestone, soft. 

Brown lime, hard. 

Gray lime. 

White flinty lime. 

Gray lime. 

Dark lime. 

Gray lime. 

Light gray lime. 

Gray lime. 

Gray lime. 

Water sand. 

Sand. 

Sandy lime. 

White sandy lime. 

Limestone. 

Break, slate. 

White lime. 

Gray sandy lime. 

Sandy lime. 

White sand. 

White lime. 

Oil sand (oil). 

White lime. 

Water sand. 

White slate. 

White lime. 

Break, slate. 

Sandy lime. 

Brown lime. 

White lime. 

White sand (some water) 


.50 

50 

320 

370 

45 

415 

130 

545 

70 

615 

35 

650 

10 

660 

10 

670 

40 

710 

25 

735 

60 

795 

170 

865 

105 

970 

2 

972 

8 

980 

15 

995 

100 

1,095 

45 

1,140 

40 

1,160 

20 

1,200 

20 

1,220 

40 

1,260 

60 

1,320 

SO 

1,400 

30 

1,430 

60 

1,490 

15 

1.505 

107 

1,612 

28 

1,640 

10 

1,650 

10 

1,660 

2 

1,662 

3 

1,665 

3 

1,668 

10 

1,678 

5 

1,683 

17 

1,700 

12 

1,712 

8 

1,720 

5 

1.725 

5 

1,730 

40 

1,770 

5 

1,775 

10 

1,785 

15 

1,800 

40 

1,840 

10 

1,850 



























































12 


Well No. 1 on Ilergcnroeder farm —Concluded. 



Thickness 
—feet. 

Depth— 
feet. 

White lime. . 

50 

1,900 

Break, slate. 

5 

1,905 

White sand. 

10 

1,915 

White lime (mostly). 

85 

2 ,000 

Coarse white broken lime. 

10 

2,010 

2,020 

Sandv lime. 

10 

Water sand, hard. 

10 

2,030 
2,070 
2,100 

Broken sandy lime. 

40 

White lime. 

30 

Sandv lime. 

10 

2 ,110 
2,120 
2,132 

Dark brown lime.,. 

10 

White salt sand. 

12 

White lime. 

26 

2,158 

Light brown sand. 

7 

2 ,165 

Light brown sand. 

45 

2; 210 
2,248 

Light brown sand. 

38 


Well No. 1, P. II. Pastel Milling Company} 

Location—At Mascoutah, sec. 32, T. 1 N., R. 6 W. 

Altitude—420 feet (estimated). 


Thickness Depth 

—feet. —feet. 


Loess. 

Quicksand... 

Sand, white.. 

Sand, gravel and other drift.. 

Limestone. 

Shale, hard, coaly,. 

Limestone. 

Coal (No. 6). 

Shale. 

“Soapstone”. 

Shale. 

Coal. 

Shale, white. 

Shale, blue. 

Shale, white. 

Red rock. 

Shale. 

Shale “cave”. 

Limestone. 

Sandstone. 

Shale..-. 

Limestone. 

Red rock, probably a hard, calcareous shale 

Shale, white. 

Sandstone (Benoist sand of drillers?). 

Limestone. 

“Shale rock”. 

Limestone, shaly.J.. 

Marl, red.*. 

Limestone. 

“Shale rock”.. 

Limestone.. 

“Shale rock”.. 

Limestone. 

Shale and limestone.. 

Sandstone and some shale.. 


30 

5 

5 

64 

5 
30 

3 

6 
15 
10 
25 

5 

50 

40 

45 

45 

35 

113 

5 

45 

25 

20 

55 

20 

20 

460 

420 

390 

70 

126 

127 

449 

58 

10 

54 

219 


30 . 
35 
40 
104 
112 
142 
145 
151 
166 
176 
201 
206 
256 
296 
341 
386 
421 
544 
549 
584 
609 
629 
684 
704 
724 
1,184 
1,604 
1.994 
2,064 
2,190 
2,317 
2,766 
2,824 
2,834 
2,888 
3,107 


1 It is reported that 2 barrels of oil per day have been gotten at times from this well. 












































































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=?tratieraDhic section from Randolph county northeast Into Marion county. Records adjusted to Herrin coal (No. 6) regardless of surface elevations. 


































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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13 


Well on Petermeyer farm. 

Location—7 miles northwest of Carlyle, sec. 17, T. 3 JN., R. 3 W. 
Altitude—469 feet. 



Thickness 
—feet. 

Depth 

—feet. 

Clay. 

20 

20 

Gravel, fine, well washed. 

S8 

Aft 

“Limestone shells”. 



“Slate”. 

561 

625 

Sandstone. 

20 

645 

“Slate”. 

83 

728 

Sandstone. 

37 

765 

“Slate”. 


820 

Sandstone. 


876 

“Slate”. 

14 

890 

“Slate”, broken. 

80 

970 

“Limestone shells”.. 

2 

972 

(Show of oil and gas and hole full of^alt water at 975 feet). 


Sandstone. . 

48 

1.020 

“Slate”. 

36 

1,056 

Sandstone. 

144 

1,200 

“Slate”. 

10 

1,210 

Limestone. 

565 

1,775 

“Slate”. 

10 

1,785 

Limestone.. 

75 

l'860 

“Slate” and limestone. 

100 

p 960 

Limestone. 

220 

2 ,180 

“Slate”. 

90 

2'270 

Limestone. 

30 

2’300 

Shale (“pencil cave”). 

30 

2,330 

“Slate”, black (Devonian?). 

28 

2,358 

Limestone (salt water). 

72 

2,430 




Well on Philip Herzog farm. 



Location—1 mile southwest of Carlyle, sec. 23, T. 2 N., 

R. 3 W. 


Altitude—467 feet. 




Thickness 

Depth 


—feet. 

—feet. 

C!ln.v fmrl ora vpl . 

46* 

46* 


393* 

440 

TdmftfttnTip . 

5 

445 


5 

450 


7 

457 


343 

800 


50 

850 

“Slate” . . 

185 

1,035 


45 

1,080 


18 

1,098 


30 

1.128 

“ Klatp ” . 

20 

1,148 


91 

1,239 

“Slate” . 

14 

1,253 


122 

1,375 


610 

1,985 


8 

1,993 


212 

2,205 


155 

2,360 


30 

2,390 


145 

2,535 


25 

2,560 

“Slate” . 

40 

2,600 


133 

2,733 





It will be seen that the above logs do not show g*reat detail. Some of 
the measurements are doubtless in error, but it is believed that the 
records are sufficiently accurate to give a good general idea of the suc¬ 
cession of rocks, especially when Plates III and I"\ are studied. 









































































14 


CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 

M issismpp'ia n S eries . 

The Mississippian series is better known than any of the older rocks, 
both because it outcrops extensively in southwestern St. Clair county 
and adjacent territory, and also because it has been penetrated by many 
wells. It consists of nine distinct divisions, many of which can be 
recognized in a good set of well drillings, and all except the Cypress 
sandstone, in which no fossils have yet been found, can be recognized 
from small pieces containing fossils. 

The lowest beds arc known by the name of Kinderhook, and are 
variable in thickness and character, but are probably nowhere over 200 
feet thick. The next higher beds, which have received the name of 
Burlington limestone, consist of whitish, crystalline, more or less flinty 
limestone, about the same in thickness as the preceding. Overlying the 
Burlington is the Iveokuk limestone, which is overlain by the Warsaw 
shale. The combined thickness of the Keokuk and Warsaw is 100 to 
150 feet. The next division, the Spergen (“Salem”) limestone, is light- 
colored and about a hundred feet thick. It is overlain by more than 
200 feet of variable limestone, in some places shalv and in some places 
very cherty, but nowhere oolitic. This rock is known as the St. Louis 
limestone and is very much like the overlying; Ste. Genevieve lime- 
stone, except that the latter is oolitic. The next division is the Cypress 
sandstone, which appears to be the Benoist sand of the drillers, the lowest 
thick persistent sandstone in the Mississippian series. This rock is 
about 100 feet thick, although it varies locally from 50 to as much as 
200 feet. It is porous, loosely cemented, has few, if any, shale partings, 
and no fossils. It is overlain by a group of beds consisting of limestone, 
sandstone, and shale, which make up the Birdsville and Tribune forma¬ 
tions. 1 These include the producing sand at Carlyle and several other 
sands. Near Chester these rocks have been described by Prof. Stuart 
Weller. 2 The total amount of limestone varies somewhat from place to 
place, but is nowhere more than two-thirds of the whole; in many places 
it constitutes less than one-third. 

The following section represents the rocks exposed near Chester, where 
there appears to be more limestone in the Chester group than elsewhere: 


1 The Cypress standstone is included in the Chester group by the United States Geological Survey; 
and some geologists, including Ulrich, refer the underlying Ste. Genevieve limestone also to the same 
group. The Illinois Survey has used “Chester” for the beds now designated Birdsville and Tribune 

2 Weller, Stuart, The geological map of Illinois: Bull. Ill. State Geol. Survey No. 6, 1907. 



15 


Section of rocks exposed near 


Chester, Illinois. 


Feet. 


Birdsville formation— 

Sandstone at Rockwood. 

Limestone. 

Shale, arenaceous; or shaly sandstone." "" *. 

Sandstone. ............ 

Shale, arenaceous; or shaly sandstone. 

Limestone. 

shale.1.1.! 1; 11!;' ; ;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 

Limestone (persistent). 

Shale. 

(In some places a bed of sandstone occurs here with variable thickness up to 20 feet.) 
Limestone.. 

shale.;;k k k;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 

Tribune limestone— 

Limestone (quarried at the Penitentiary)..■. 

Interval of uncertain character, lower part probably'shale and upper part limestone. 

Limestone. 

Probably mostly shale. 

Shale, variegated red and green. 

Not exposed. 

Limestone, fossiliferous. 

Shale, fossiliferous. 

Limestone, very fossilid, fossili¬ 


ferous.....) 

Shale.J 


Beds not observed 
Cypress sandstone_ 



100 

20 

47 

10 

33 

54 

42 

8 

30 

4 

4 


80 

20 

49 

38 

15 

5 

20 


15 


25 

134 


The Chester is the uppermost group of the Mississippian beds in this 
region. Some drillers have fallen into the habit of speaking of that 
part of the Mississippian series which lies below the Cypress sandstone 
as the “Mississippi lime.” This expression is undesirable, for the Mis¬ 
sissippian series includes all of the Chester as well as the limestone 
formations below. 


PennsyJvan ion Series. 

The Pennsylvanian series includes all the coal-bearing beds of Illi¬ 
nois, and is separated from the Mississippian by an unconformity which 
marks a time when Illinois became dry land and remained so for a long 
period. In many drill holes the unconformity is not noticeable, and 
even where the rocks actually outcrop it is in some places not easy to 
locate. The uppermost Mississippian rock commonly still shows the 
effect of its exposure to the weather millions of years ago, being soft 
and brownish. The lowermost Pennsylvanian rock consists generally 
of a laver of cemented pebbles which is sometimes noted in well logs. 
It is difficult to distinguish from higher beds in which there are scat¬ 
tered pebbles. 

Pottsville sandstone .—The Pottsville sandstone is composed of sand¬ 
stone and shale with local thin lenses of coal. It is commonly known 
in the Carlyle oil field as the “salt sand. Xear St. Louis the Potts¬ 
ville is locally less than 20 feet thick and consists largely of clay. To 
the east it thickens to about 160 feet at Carlyle, south of which it is 
probably still thicker for it thickens generally in that direction and 
reaches over 500 feet in Jackson county. It contains no limestone, but 









































16 


is made up of several beds of sandstone separated by lenses of shale. 
Much of the sandstone is very porous but some is almost as impervious 
as shale. 

Carbondale formation. —The Carbondale formation extends from the 
top of the Pottsville to the top of the Herrin coal (No. 6)/ which is the 
main coal bed of the region. Usually another bed of coal, the Mur- 
physboro (No. 2) is present, forming the base of the formation, and 
still another about ecjually persistent, lies almost exactly midway be¬ 
tween the Murphysboro and Herrin coals, or about 125 feet below the 
latter. Still other coal beds are present in some places. Shale consti¬ 
tutes the major part of the formation but there is much sandstone, par¬ 
ticularly in the lower half; and a few layers of limestone, particularly 
in the uppermost and lowermost parts. Much of the shale is soft and 
clay-like. 

McLeansboro formation. —The McLeansboro formation extends from 
the top of the Herrin coal (No. 6) to the highest hard rocks of the 
region, or somewhat above the limestone upon which drive pipe is com¬ 
monly set in the Carlyle oil field. The Herrin coal is generally over- 
lain by shale up to 30 feet thick but locally this shale is absent and the 
overlying limestone rests directly on the coal. The limestone above the 
Herrin coal is even more persistent than the coal itself and may be 
used in an important way to determine the horizon of the coal where 
that bed is absent or questionable. The limestone contains a little 
fossil, scarcely as large as a grain of wheat, which can be identified even 
in the ground-up material from the drill hole. This limestone and the 
underlying coal are the most important key rocks in the region for they 
are persistent and easily recognized. Drillers should, therefore, make 
careful measurements to these beds so as to identify properly the sand- 
. stones of the Chester, some of which contain oil. 

Above the limestone overlying the Herrin coal occurs more than 300 
feet of clay, shale, and sandstone generally free from limestone. This 
series of beds extends up to the limestone which has been called Shoal 
Creek limestone in the Illinois State Survey reports, about- 300 to 350 
feet above the Herrin coal. The remaining beds of the McLeansboro 
formation are mostly soft shale and sandstone. 

QUATERNARY SYSTEM. 

The Quaternary system includes the surface sand, clay, and gravel 
which, although it is many thousands of years old, does not average 
more than one-tenth as old as the rocks of the Carboniferous system. 
Much of this surface material is glacial. It was brought here by a 
great ice sheet that crept down from Canada bringing with it stones 
from that country very unlike the rocks of Illinois and leaving them 
spread over this region. Some of the rock and dirt was deposited 
directly by the ice and is a mass of clay (largely rock flour, ground by 


1 The custom of using place names instead of numbers to designate the age of coal beds is generally 
desirable. It should be remembered, however, that the coals vary greatly in commercial importance 
from place to place and that the use of the same geologic name for coals of various districts implies only 
contemporaneous deposition—in no sense uniform quality.—Editor. 



17 


the glacier), sand, and gravel thoroughly mixed together. There are 
also beds of sand and gravel which were deposited on or in front of 
the ice. Upon this gravelly clay there is generally a bed of clay with¬ 
out any grit which was probably .deposited by wind. This clay covers 
the prairie and the hills and valley Sides, but the valley bottoms have 
a more recent deposit laid down by the streams. 


SUMMARY OF GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 

Ihe history recorded in the rocks shows that many millions of years 
ago southwestern Illinois lay’ below sea level. It was covered with salt 
water which was sometimes clear and sometimes more or less muddy. 
At times when it was free from ordinary mud it usually had some par¬ 
ticles of lime which came from the breaking up of shells. At all times the 
solid material in the water was gradually settling to form layers of 
limestone, shale, or sandstone according to the kind of sediment. Such 
conditions prevailed throughout much of the Ordovician, Silurian, 
Devonian, and Carboniferous periods except that at several different 
times the surface rose above sea level and was land. This came about 
through very slow movements such as seem to have affected the outer 
part of the earth throughout its history and may be in progress today. 
There was no violent upheaval or eruption, for such events are recorded 
with great clearness and certainty in the rocks and could easily be 
detected. In the periods of emergence there were times when deposits 
of mud and sand accumulated on the land rapidly—just as today in 
favorable situations mud and sand accumulate on land as rapidly as 
under water. At other times deposition ceased and rain and streams 
washed away some of the material that had just been deposited. After 
such events, when deposition was resumed, the sediment was laid down 
on a more or less uneven surface and the result is now an unconformity 
in the rocks. The sea was not deep like the central parts of the great 
oceans but w T as shallow like the sea margins today within a hundred miles 
of land. The ocean migrated widely and occupied almost every possible 
position. Sometimes southwestern Illinois was possibly hundreds of 
miles from land and at other times it was just off shore. Sometimes 
land was nearer in one direction and sometimes in another. Probably 
there were times when the water that covered this region was an inland 
sea, being separated from the open ocean bv a strip of land. Since 
Carboniferous time the region has in all probability been continuously 
a land area subject to the wearing and washing action of water and 
streams. If any sediment accumulated between Carboniferous and 
Quaternary time it was of small amount and has since been entirely 
removed. The Quaternary period was the time of glaciation. Within 
this period there were several epochs when ice advanced from the north, 
but only once did it reach southern Illinois. This time it buried the 
former surface under so much dirt and stones that after the ice had 
melted streams took new courses, in some cases at right angles to their 

—2 Gr 


18 


old ones. Indeed the stream courses have not been the same in any 
two successive geologic periods, for in the first place all stream courses 
are slowly migrating, and in the second place every submergence means 
a more or less complete filling and obliteration of the valleys. 

Structure. 

By structure is meant the arrangement and lay of the beds. The 
structure of this region as a whole is monoclinal; that is, the rocks dip 
in one general direction (to the east). Just east of St. Louis, the 
Herrin coal (No. 6) is about 400 feet above sea level and it outcrops 
along the Mississippi bluffs. (See Plate II.) It slopes to the east, 
reaching sea level, or 450 feet below the surface, near Carlyle, and 
about 100 feet below sea level at Sandoval. The average dip is 10 
feet to the mile. The rocks are highest in the southwestern part of 
the district where they were affected by an uplift which would carry 
the Herrin coal at Valmeyer in the western part of Monroe county up 
to more than 2,500 feet above sea level, or more than 1,800 feet above 
the present highest hill tops. In other words, at. Valmeyer there are 
rocks outcropping at the surface which belong 2,000 feet below the 
Herrin coal (Plate V). 

The rocks do not have a uniform dip to the east but are folded into 
irregular shapes; moreover they are locally broken and displaced. In 
some places where there is a break, the rocks on one side have moved 
up several hundred feet above the rocks on the other side and no one 
can tell how much lateral movement there has been. 

The deformation just outside the region treated in this report no 
doubt affected the rocks in this area to a certain extent. At least the 
eastward dip described above is not regular, but the folds are very low 
and can be worked out only by careful measurements. 

METHOD OF REPRESENTING STRUCTURE. 

The best method of showing the exact shape of any worked surface 
is by the use of contour lines, and the writer believes that it would be 
well worth while for every oil operator to become accustomed to the 
use of the contour map. (See Plate II.) The idea is simple—that of 
drawing lines through points of equal altitude on some particular rock 
surface—and the result shows the exact shape of that surface. For 
example, a contour map of the surface of the earth shows the form of 
hills and valleys; it shows not only where the slope is steep and where 
it is gentle; but also the degree of steepness and the altitude of every 
point. 

The same idea is used in showing the structure of the rocks. A refer¬ 
ence layer or surface is chosen, for example, the top of a certain coal 
bed. The altitude and dip of this surface are determined at as many 
points as possible and if these points are at all numerous, the altitude 
and dip in the unknown intervening areas can be determined with con¬ 
siderable accuracy by constructing a contour map. But in making a 
structure map the geologist is not limited to data on the one layer of 


BULL NO. 20, PLATE V. 


ILLINOIS 


FEET 


400 


200 


A 


200 


400 


600 


800 


7000 


STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


r' i 


EC 




ee 


g 




M 


s 






§ 




Ci 


EC 


m 


\ a 

\o 




SEA LEVEL 


<S> 


> 

XE 






Cherty limestone 
Sandy limestone 


Shout of oil 


o 


eC 


nri 


re 


c 


Ci 


a I 


Ci 


U~T 


EC 


Ci 


C 


EC 


EC 


EC 


EC 


EC 






m 



^ . 


Show of oil 
Saltwater 


Structure section along line A-A of Plate II from Monroe county northeast through Carlyle oil field. 








































































































































































































































































mtat?. akxji 

* 

* 


























































19 


ninlph^rvi ^ based ’ f° r all the layers of rock are approxi- 

Fnv m-i l W a +] a hG between the beds can be determined. 

or 0 , bkb 111 th e barlyle oil field there is a bed of limestone 340 to 

°°\ f et ab °7- the Herrm f ; oal ancl the position of the coal can be esti¬ 
mated with fair accuracy from the position of the limestone, without 
sinking a hole to the coal. 


USE OE STRUCTURE CONTOURS. 

The structure map has numerous uses and none are more important 
than its use tor oil and gas prospecting. A significant fact which 
many ml prospectors have failed to appreciate is that the oil pools of 
Illinois are without exception found where the rocks have a certain 
geologic structure. The oil is found in areas where the rocks are 
higher than m adjacent territory in at least two directions and com¬ 
monly m three or four directions. It would appear therefore to be 
almost a waste of money to sink prospects in synclines or places where 
the rocks are lower than in surrounding territory. 


ACCURACY OF STRUCTURE CONTOURS. 

1 lie accuracy of structure contours depends on three factors. First, 
the accuracy of the altitudes obtained directly ■ second, the difference 
between the actual and the assumed distance to the key. rock; third, the 
number and distribution of points on the key rock whose altitudes have 
been determined. 

(1) In the area under consideration, good surface maps have been 
published and there are numerous bench marks showing exact elevations 
above sea. From these, level lines were run to all points where a 
recognizable stratum could be located in natural outcrop or artificial 
excavation. In many wells the drillers have not determined the depth 
of the coal with exactness but in such cases the uncertainty has been 
reduced by checking the reported position of the coal with the deter¬ 
mined positions of other strata at or near the same place. 

(2) II ith regard to the second factor mentioned above, the strata 
are not exactly parallel, or, in other words, the distance between any 
two layers is not the same at all points. The variation is not great, 
particularly in a small district, and where the distance between the 
layers of rock is only a few hundred feet. In a single township the 
distance between any two strata is not known to vary more than 
15 or 20 feet, and in general this distance has been measured in at 
least one place in every township. The possible error arising in this 
way is therefore believed to be small; not more than 20 feet at most 
and that in only a few places. 

(3) The third factor is most important for, although in some dis- • 
tricts there are numerous and well distributed points at which the alti¬ 
tudes of recognizable strata have been determined, in many parts of the 
area such information is scarce because outcrops are few or wanting and 
no wells, test holes, or coal shafts have been sunk to a bed that can be 



20 


recognized. The region in which information is most abundant is, of 
course, the Carlyle oil field. Elsewhere the lay of the rocks is best known 
where coal mines are most abundant. 

In some places surface features can be used to a certain extent in 
working out the structure. The most conspicuous example is the uplift 
of the rocks in the western part of the area, resulting in higher country 
near the Mississippi than at some distance away. There are other areas 
where hard layers of rock have had an influence on the surface, but the 
effect is generally obscure because of the thick mantle of gravel and clay 
which was deposited over this region by the ice. 

Allowing for the possible errors noted above, it may be assumed 
that the contour lines are accurate within one-half a contour interval, 
or 25 feet, but that locally there may be a greater error. 

The prominent structural features of the region under discussion 
(PL II) are several more or less isolated domes, some of which are 
longer in one direction than in another and hence are better described 
by the word anticline. 1 

CARLYLE ANTICLINE. 

The Carlyle anticline or elongated dome is a very low arch, the cen¬ 
tral line of which extends from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad about 
midway between Carlyle and Beckemeyer a little east of north for three 
or four miles. The highest part is near the middle where the rocks are 
only a little higher than they are to the north. They are, however, 
higher than the same beds to the east, south, or west and this dip of 
the rocks in three directions away from the center of the dome seems 
to be the most important fact in the development of an oil pool. 

As every oil pool in Illinois is located on an upward bend in the 
rocks it would’seem well worth while in prospecting to search for such 
localities. 

At Carlyle and Beckemeyer and for some distance south and south¬ 
west the Herrin coal (No. 6) is 15 or 20 feet above the sea; to the 
east and southeast it dips to 50 or 60 feet below sea level in the vicinity 
of Huey. Northwest from Carlyle the coal rises toward the center of 
the field where it is 50 to 60 feet above the sea. West from Carlvle the 
coal dips gently again almost to sea level, but northwest it does not 
sink so low and it is not known to lie within 25 feet of sea level any¬ 
where northwest of the pool. To the north and northeast, however, it 
descends to an altitude of 15 to 30 feet above sea in a distance of 2 
or 3 miles. 

It may seem remarkable but it is a fact that the shape of the Carlyle 
oil pool does not correspond to the shape of the anticline as it is devel¬ 
oped in the coal-bearing rock. The place where the coal is highest is 
well to the northwest of the center of the pool; but when the variable 
thickness of the strata is remembered, the surprising fact is that the 


1 An anticline, it should be remembered, is an upward bend or wrinkle in the rocks. The upbend to 
which the word is generally applied has a much greater length than breadth. An upward bend having 
nearly equal length and breadth is more concisely described by the term dome. 



21 


outline of the dome in the coal-bearing rocks is so near the outline of 
the pool. Layers of sandstone in particular vary greatly in thicknes’s, 
and it is surprising that when many such layers are piled one on top 
of another the uppermost is so nearly parallel to the lowest. 

Another important fact is that the structure of the rocks has no 
direct effect on the surface configuration. The fold is so slight and 
the processes which modify the surface (stream erosion, glaciation, etc.) 
have been so active that it requires a keen eye to pick out any surface 
features that are even indirectly controlled by the lay of the rocks. 

IRISHTOWN ANTICLINE OR STRUCTURAL TERRACE. 

In the central part of Irishtown township, 5 to 7 miles north and 2 to 
3 miles east of Carlyle, .the coal lies 50 to 70 feet above sea. The details 
of the structure in this vicinity are not known for there are few out¬ 
crops and artificial excavations which show recognizable strata, but the 
coal is certainly higher than it is midway between this district and the 
Carlyle anticline, and it is considerably higher than the same bed a 
few miles to the east. Apparently there is a low anticline here which 
plunges and fades out to the east. Two wells drilled here in the fall 
of 1911 obtained no showing of oil. The highest known point in the 
coal in Irishtown township is at the Ohio Oil Company’s well on the 
Michel farm near the middle of section 17, hut as the sands and the 
coal are not absolutely parallel the highest*point in the sands may be a 
mile or two away from the middle of section 17. 

BARTELSO DOME. 

There is fairlv good evidence of a low dome one to two and a half 
miles north and a little east of Bartelso. Five wells have been sunk in 
the vicinity of Bartelso and both the coal and the sands seem to be 
rising toward a point a short distance to the northeast of the town and 
indications of oil have been found. Four to seven miles north and 
northeast of Bartelso the strata are low and probably barren of oil; but 
between this place and the town there is possibility of a pool. 

HIGHLAND DOME. 

At Highland the rocks are 25 to 50 feet higher than they are two or 
three miles to the east, south, or west, the coal in the northwest part 
of town being 230 feet above sea; but a test hole 1,089 feet deep was 
sunk not far from the center of the dome in 1889 and no showing of 
oil or gas was found. It therefore seems probable that this dome, like 
some others, contains no oil or gas. The record of the test is as 
follows: 


22 


Record of test hole at Highland. 


• 

Thickness— 

Depth— 

Ft. 

In. 

Ft. 

In. 

i 

Drift . 

66 


GO 


Limestone . 

4 


70 


fthalp, blank . 

3 


73 


Clav . 

7 


80 


Clay, shale . 

16 


96 


Shale black . 

6 


102 


Limestone brown. 

28 


130 



55 


185 


Sandstone ( water). 

73 


258 


Clay, shale, blue. 

10 


268 


Clay 7 . 

10 


278 


Red rock . 

2 


280 


Limestone . 

22 


302 


Shale . 

5 


307 


Sandstone, dry. 

12 


319 


Shale . 

12 


331 


Sandstone, drv. 

6 


337 


Shale . -..-. 

20 


357 


Sandstone (water).. 

39 


396 


Shale .'. . . 

20 


416 


Sandstone (water).. 

40 


45B 


Shale, black . 

0 


462 


Sandstone, dry. 

0 


468 


Shale, black. 

35 


503 


Coal . 

i 

10 

504 

10 


10 


514 

10 

Sandstone, “shell”. 



519 

10 

Coal . 

1 

2 

521 

Clav . 

4 

0 

525 

6 

Shale, black.... 

54 

G 

580 

Sandstone (water). 

25 


605 


Shale, black. 

25 


630 


Shale. 

75 


705 


Limestone. 

4 


709 


Shale. 

30 


739 


Sandstone (water). 

29 


768 


Shale. 

27 


795 


Limestone, brown. 

6 


801 


Shale .'. 

4 


805 


Limestone. 

8 


813 


Sandstone, red. 

2 


815 


Shale, red. 

4 


819 


Sandstone (water). 

8 


827 



3 


830 


Sandstone, brown. 

20 


850 


Red rock. 

12 


862 


Shale. 

6 


868 


Sandstone, brown (water). 

19 


887 


Shale, sandy, green. 

15 


902 


Sandstone, green. 

18 


920 


Sandstone, white (water). 

92 


1 012 


Limestone. 



1 089 




. 1 




HOFFMAN DOME OR ANTICLINE. 

At Hoffman, about 11 miles east of Bartelso, the strata are high, the 
coal according to a diamond drill record being 37 feet above sea, whereas 
a very few miles to the northwest, north, and east, it is below sea level. 
It may dip to the south also, and if so the structural feature is a dome; 
otherwise it is an anticline, which plunges to the northeast. In either 
case it is well worth a test for oil. 

The structure between Hoffman and Bartelso is not known. Most 
likely there is a shallow syncline but there is a possibility of a small arch. 







































































































































































23 


NASHVILLE ANTICLINE. 

At Nashville the strata have a noticeable rise to the west, but a mile 
north of Addieville they seem to be 50 feet lower. From what is known 
of the lay of the rocks there appears to be a broad but fairly steep sided 
anticline plunging slightly to the northeast but perhaps extending with¬ 
out a break northeast to the Hoffman dome. There is some indication 
that the anticline is double crested, one crest being southeast and one 
northwest of Nashville. To the southwest the anticline becomes less 
pronounced. At Oakdale it appears to be broad and low, fhough farther 
to the southwest toward the Sparta field it may become higher and 
steeper. It may be, however, that this uplift is not an anticline but a 
dome. If so its position is 2 to 4 miles west of Nashville. 


VENEDY DOME. 

In a deep well near the old town of Venedy about 6 miles southwest of 
Okawville the coal is reported to lie at a depth of 212 feet, or 250 feet 
above sea. This is higher than it lies in surrounding territory but the 
details of this dome or anticline are not yet known. 

DARMSTADT ANTICLINE. 

The D'armstadt anticline has a northeast-southwest trend, and is some¬ 
what irregular. It probably extends northeast to the Venedy uplift, 
beyond which it appears to be double crested, one crest running nearly 
north to New Memphis, and the other northeast to Okawville. The 
anticline seems to-be highest near Darmstadt, where the coal bed reaches 
an elevation of 298 feet above sea, whereas it is 50 to 75 feet lower to 
the west, north, and east. It may or may not be lower to the northeast, 
and there is a possibility that it is lower to the south and is a dome. It 
is at least a well marked uplift, flanked on the northwest and southeast 
by synclines, and is one of the most worthy places in the region for a 
test well. 


WHITE OAK ANTICLINE. 

A low anticline plunging gently to the northeast extends in a south¬ 
west-northeast direction through White Oak, where it is unsymmetrical, 
the southeast limb being rather steep and about 40 feet high, and the 
northwest being' less than 10 feet high. It thus has somewhat the form 
of a terrace facing southeast, but the distinct slope to the northwest 
makes it an anticline. To the southwest its limits are not known. It 
may extend as far as Baldwin. To the northeast it appears to broaden 
and to extend nearly to Lively Grove. The highest known point is 6 
or 7 miles east and 2 miles north of Marissa, where the coal is reported 
in a test hole to be 295 feet above sea. This is higher than the coal lies 
either to the northwest, northeast, or southeast. But, unfortunately, 
there is very little information on the position of the strata in this 
district, and hence the structure is somewhat doubtful. There may be 
a dome just northwest of the middle of Lively Grove township, and the- 


24 


anticline may be high or low, steep sided or gently sloping. But in any 
case, the anticline should be tested before adjacent territory. One test 
has already been sunk near White Oak and no oil was found. Another 
test on this anticline might very well be located 5 or 6 miles northeast of 
White Oak. 


OTHER ANTICLINAL FEATURES. 

At several places in the area under discussion, structures favorable 
for the accumulation of oil and gas have already been pointed out by 
B. S. Blatchley of the State Geological Survey (See Bulletin No. 16, 
Ill. Geol. Survey, 1911, pp. 42-177, inclusive). These places are enu¬ 
merated by him as follows: 

1. A flat “terrace” at O’Fallon. 

2. A low arch at Aviston. 

3. A small anticline west of Belleville, perhaps corre¬ 

sponding to the O’Fallon deformation. 

4. A small arch east of the Belleville, perhaps corre¬ 

sponding to the O’Fallon deformation. 

5. A small arch east of Mascoutah apparently corre¬ 

sponding to the Aviston deformation. 

6. A probable structural terrace between Beaucoup and 

Ashley in Washington county. 

7. A flat at Marissa. 

8. An anticline at Tilden. 

The new data on these features are indicated in the following para¬ 
graphs : 

1. At O’Fallon the strata have the form of an anticline rather than 
a terrace, though the east limb is higher than the west limb. The anti¬ 
cline is somewhat broad at Aviston and to the north, in which direction 
it extends 3 or 4 miles. To the south it becomes narrower to a point 
just east of Belleville, beyond which it is not known to be developed. 

2. At Aviston the general eastward dip of the strata seems to be 
modified by an upward bend, probably not over 15 feet in height. The 
arch falls between two of the 50-foot structure contours, and hence it 
is not shown on the structure map. 

3. Concerning the small anticline west of Belleville no new data have 
been collected. 

i 

4. ' The anticline east of Belleville is, as indicated above, a continua¬ 
tion of the one at O’Fallon. 

5. The presence of an arch east of Mascoutah was inferred from the 
fact that according to the log of the Postel No. 1 well, drilled in 1893, 
the coal lies higher there than in the Beatty mine a half mile north in 
the north edge of Mascoutah, but the fact that at the Kolb mine south¬ 
east of Mascoutah and in the Postel well No. 2 the coal is reported at 
about the same position as in the Beatty mine, and also the fact that 
in the coal mines the coal bed does not show any indication of anticlinal 
structure nearby, makes it appear probable that the Postel No. 1 record 
is slightly incorrect. In any case, since this well is not east of the 
Beatty mine, the anticline if present would be a small one in Mascoutah. 


25 


6. The record of the Shaffer and Smathers well near Ashley makes 
it appear that the structure between Beaucoup and Ashley is synclinal 
and not favorable for oil and gas accumulation, but not enough is known 
to warrant a definite statement. 

7. The new information indicates that the beds at Marissa are bent 
downward forming a shallow syncline flanking the White Oak anticline 
on the northwest instead of being folded in a fiat topped anticline as 
previously thought. 

8. The anticline at Til den is much lower than was formerly sup¬ 
posed, being less than 10 feet in height. The crest lies about a mile 
west of Tilden. 


THE CARLYLE OIL FIELD. 

History. 

The Carlyle oil pool was discovered early in April, 1911, two wells, 
Smith No. 1 and Murphy No. 1, reaching the pay sand within a few 
days of each other. Before this, two wildcat wells, about a thousand 
feet deep, had been drilled just south of Carlyle, and a showing of gas, 
hardly enough to stimulate prospecting, was found in one. The exist¬ 
ence of producing wells 12 to 15 miles east of Carlyle in the Sandoval 
pool which was. opened in the summer of 1909, served, however, to 
make men study the surrounding country, and in 1910 Murphy No. 1 
was located by Mr. W. W. Laird, President of the Surpass Oil and Gas 
Company. It is about 5 miles northwest of Carlyle. (See map of Carlyle 
oil field, Plate II, in pocket.) Plans were made to drill to a depth of 
2,000 feet, and 13-inch casing was carried to 725 feet. Numerous diffi¬ 
culties were encountered and drilling proceeded slowly so that it was 
several weeks before the hole reached a depth of 750 feet where a show¬ 
ing of oil was found. Late in the year another showing of oil was 
found at 860 feet. Further difficulties and accidents hindered the 
drilling and little progress was made through the winter. In March, 
1911, the third sand containing oil was found at a depth of 1,013 feet 
and was shot with 60 quarts of nitro-glycerine. The shot failed to 
bring oil in paying quantities but the drillers proceeded to clean out 
the well in the hope that it would turn out better and a 250-barrel tank 
was built nearby. The oil found was enough to make holders of leases 
in the vicinity imagine that the well was just on the edge of a pool 
and a lease a short distance away might contain oil in paying quanti¬ 
ties. The result was a test well half a mile south and a little east on 
the northeast corner of the Smith farm. The lease on this farm was 
held bv F. B. Ranger and drilling was begun about the middle of 

March. 



26 


Owing in part to the fact that a big rental payment was due in about 
three weeks from the time it was started, work on the Smith well was 
rushed so that the lease might be given up before the payment was due 
if oil was not found. 

On April 8th a. good flow of oil was struck in the Smith well at a 
depth of 1,030 to 1,056 feet. The well began to flow at a rate of 100 
barrels or more a day before it was shot. The news spread rapidly and 
within twenty-four hours there were scores of oil speculators and oper¬ 
ators in Carlyle. It was conservatively estimated that over 500 people 
paid a visit to the new well on Sunday, April 9th. During the follow¬ 
ing week rains checked travel, but the hotels in Carlyle were crowded to 
their utmost capacity and many men went to the neighboring towns, 
particularly to Beckemeyer, for hotel and livery accommodations. The 
crowd included leasers, operators, contractors, drillers, and a multitude 
of “floaters” without any special calling. Citizens were besought for 
sleeping accommodations; campers, usually with poor equipment, went 
to the river bank and. roadsides, and many slept on the courthouse lawn. 

During the first few weeks of the boom the main feature of the oil 
business was the scramble for leases. Bonus prices bounded up to more 
than a hundred dollars an acre for land that could have been bought 
outright a few months before at not more than fifty dollars an acre. 

By the last of April twenty drilling outfits were on the ground and 
several railway oil tanks had been filled and shipped from Beckemeyer. 

Many land owners were slow about leasing and a variety of means 
were used to pursuade and coerce them. It is said that one farmer’s 
son was paid $5.00 a day to influence his father. On the central streets 
of Carlyle were to be seen at all times of day groups of men negotiating 
with land owners or lease holders for leases, and some speculators cleared 
large sums of money. 

But success was not in store for all. The new wells which were 
started were scattered over much of Clinton county, though they were 
more numerous near the Murphy and Smith wells. Out of sixteen 
prospect wells begun before the end of April, twelve turned out to be 
dry; but in May several good wells were brought in near the original 
ones and interest did not lag. 

In May and June the producing territory was extended over several 
farms, but many dry holes were sunk in all directions from the pool and 
neither an extension nor -a new pool was found. This brought on a 
reaction that inevitably follows a boom and for a time discouragement 
prevailed. Prices of oil and other properties declined and many men 
left the region. 

Nevertheless, the production of the pool increased without interrup¬ 
tion. About the middle of June a pipe line was completed from San¬ 
doval and the oil, including much that had accumulated in storage tanks 
was conducted to that town and thence to the refineries at Alton. 

During the remainder of the summer the boundaries of the pool were 
extended gradually out to dry wells in all directions. To the northeast 
in particular the limits spread out much farther than anyone had 



BULL. NO. 20, PLATE VI. 



+ 

+ 


LEGEND 

• Oil Well 

-f Dry Well 

. K 

^ Abandoned Well 

- Township Line 

-Property Line 


MAP OF 

CARLYLE OIL FIELD, ILLINOIS 

BY 

EUGENE WESLEY SHAW 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

PREPARED IN CO OPERATION WITH THE 

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

DECEMBER, 1911 



Contours showing elevation 
of surface above sea level. 
Contour interval: In oil field 5 
ft., outside of oil field 20 ft. 


Buildings 



Scale Of Miles 


Drawn by A.R.Alyer 


Map of Carlyle oil field showing topography and location of properties and wells. 






































































































































































































































27 


expected. The lease on the Downewald farm, for example, would 
scarcely have brought a dollar an acre at the time of the depression in 
the early part of the summer, hut by the end of October it was worth 
more than a hundred dollars an acre. 

Topography of Carlyle Oil Field. 

The land suiface in the vicinity of the Carlyle oil pool is nearly flat 
and level and stands at an average elevation of about 465 feet above 
sea level. (See Plate YI.) There are a few knolls reaching 470 feet 
and several of the small stream valleys are cut below 460 feet. The 
Hempsen House stands a little above 470 feet, the road corner at the 
Scliwierjohan School is 471 feet and the northeast part of the field is 
almost 4<5 feet above sea. Just to the north and east of the pool are 
knolls which rise above 480 feet. To the east and west the surface 
slopes down toward Beaver creek and Kaskaskia river which flow here 
a little over 400 feet above sea. To the south the surface has an alti¬ 
tude of about 465 feet. 

Geology. 

STRATIGRAPHY. 

The stratigraphy of the Carlyle oil held is much the same as that 
already described for the region in which it lies; but that part of the 
section which has been penetrated by the oil wells is known in much 
greater detail than any part of the section in the remainder of the region. 
(See Plates III and IV.) 

Chester' group .—That part of the Chester group lying below the 
principal producing sand which has become known to the drillers as the 
Carlyle sand, is known from only a few wells and consists of one or 
more heavy sandstones (50 to 125 feet thick), interbedded with lime¬ 
stone and shale. The principal sandstone is known as the Cypress sand¬ 
stone. The Carlyle sand is, on the whole, a soft porous, medium- 
fine grained sandstone of irregular thickness, and with numerous 
partings. Around the edges of .the pool it is harder than in 
the center and in one or two places pinches out entirely. Above 
the Carlvle sand is about 30 feet of bluish shale containing in some 
places one or two beds of limestone and, in some places, red shale. The 
next hundred feet is even more triable. There is everywhere some 
shale at this position and generally, if not everywhere, a bed of hard 
limestone in the lower part and a bed of sandstone near the top. In 
some places most of the rock 30 to 130 feet above the Carlyle sand is 
limestone. The next 70 feet is predominantly shale, but there is some 
limestone, and in the northwestern part of the pool a heavy bed of sand¬ 
stone occurs in the upper part. 

PottsviUe sandstone ,—The Pottsville sandstone is about 160 feet thick 
and its base is about 200 feet above the Carlyle sand. It consists of 
several heavy beds of sandstone, separated by layers of shale. This 
sandstone is generally filled with salt water and hence is coming to be 
known as the “salt sand”; but along the northern border of the pool 


28 


there is much gas and some oil in the lowermost part of this sand. 
Along the west side there is gas and water in this lower part. In 
McCabe No. 1, in the northwest corner of the pool, a flow of gas was 
strong enough to carry up quartz pebbles from the sand. 

Carbon dale formation .—The Carbondale formation which extends 
from the top of the Pottsville to the top of the Herrin coal (No. 6), 
is about 225 feet thick in the vicinity of Carlyle. A bed of sandstone 
which in the lower 50 feet of this formation varies in thickness from 
10 to 40 feet or more, is almost everywhere present. This rock gener¬ 
ally contains salt water and hence is commonly included by the drillers 
with the underlying “salt sands” (Pottsville). It differs from them 
in being somewhat softer and in containing a large amount of mica and 
other material beside quartz. Below this sandstone there is in some 
places a layer of limestone and almost everywhere a bed of shale sepa¬ 
rating it from the Pottsville sandstone below. The central part of the 
Carbondale formation is predominantly shale. In some places it is 
somewhat sandy and elsewhere it contains more or less lime, but beds 
of pure limestone are generally absent. A short distance below the 
Herrin coal there is generally a bed of sandstone which in the Carlyle 
oil field is dry; but in the vicinity 'of Centralia, about 15 miles east, it 
has in places a good showing of oil. Above this sandstone there is 
commonly a bed of limestone, and above the limestone is the Herrin 
coal (No. 6) which marks the top of the formation. 

McLeansboro formation .—That part of the McLeansboro which is 
present in the Carlyle field extends from the top of the Herrin coal to 
the top of the Shoal Creek limestone of Illinois Survey reports. It 
consists principally of shale with a bed of limestone near the base over- 
lying the Herrin coal, and with another limestone at the top; the latter 
limestone being in some places separated into two divisions. This upper 
limestone generally constitutes the bed rock under the surface clay and 
gravel and hence is used as a seat for the drive pipe. 

Quaternary deposits .—The Quaternary deposits in the Carlyle oil field 
consist of gravelly clay about 30 feet thick, overlain bv clay (loess), 
almost without perceptible grit, ranging up to 20 feet thick. There is 
very little, if any, well washed gravel but in some places there is sand 
with some pebbles which is free enough from clay to be known as quick¬ 
sand. Sand lenses of this sort have made trouble in drilling and 
handling the drive pipe in some wells. 

STRUCTURE. 

The structure of the rocks in the Carlyle field could be shown with 
little difficulty if the beds underlying the Herrin coal, including the oil 
sands, were all parallel to the coal. A study of well logs shows, how¬ 
ever, that in the pool the Carlyle sand is nearly horizontal (Plate VII),' 
whereas the coal is highest along the north side of the field and dips 
most rapidly to the west and southwest. The dip to the east and south¬ 
west is gentle for a mile or more, and then becomes much greater. 

Plate VII is a map which presents considerable information regard¬ 
ing the oil sand. 


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II 


02 CT 099 Off 0 

J33J JO 3|tDS 


U6i aaawaoaa 

MVHS A33S3A\ 3N30H3 

X8 


3 


T 

N 


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oi oopisod Xq |3A3| «3i «o|3q 
pirn jo sipdop Moq> «uoi»33S 


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3HX iO 

NOIXISOd 3VDIX33A ONV SS3N5IDIHX ‘33XDVWHO 

oNiiVHisrmi 

swvaovia 

HUM 

ami no aiAiivo ni stiim 

JO NOIJLVOOl ONIMOHS 

dVW 



I. 


‘iia axvad: ‘oz -on -lias. 


xsAHns avoiooioao axvxs siONmi 












































































































































































































































































































































4 

































































29 


The data for this map are taken largely from drillers’ records, 'but 
partly from determinations made by the writer. The map shows: (1) 
The location and name of each well and the character of the production. 
(2) The character so far as known of the oil-bearing sand with its 
overlying and underlying rock. (3) The depth of the sand below sea 
level at most of the wells and hence the structure of the sand. A row 
of diagrams taken in any direction gives a cross section of the sand in 
that direction. The position of (1) the top of the sand, (2) top of 
pay, (3) bottom of pay and bottom of hole, are also shown as far as 
possible. The position of the sand at each well is determined from 
careful steel line measurements made for the placing of the shot and 
from the elevation of the. platform of each well determined by spirit 
level. 

Outside the field the sand dips in all directions except north, and 
apparently it also pinches out in all directions except to the north. The 
small irregularities in the position of the sand are probably not accu¬ 
rate, but arise out of the fact that one driller will call for example a 
sandy shale sandstone, whereas another driller will call the same rock 
shale. Some drillers even call certain limestones, shale. 

COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS. 

Product of the wells .—All of the wells of the Carlyle oil field yield 
gas, oil, and water, the amount of each varying considerably from well 
to well. The initial production of oil ranges up to 2,000 barrels a day, 
Murphy No. 5 having flowed about that amount in the first twenty-four 
hours. The average initial production is about 100 barrels and the 
average production after two months is about 50 barrels. A few wells 
on the outskirts of the pool have yielded less than 50 barrels on the 
start, and many have yielded between 200 and 300; the yield of the 
wells varies, therefore, considerably but not enormously. 

The flow of gas is strong in all wells, particularly those in the north 
part of the pool. The exact amount of gas has not been determined in 
any well, and in but one well, McCabe No. 1, has the closed pressure 
been measured. It was said to show a pressure of about 80 pounds, but 
in many wells the gas is at times strong enough to lift a 500-foot 
column of oil and water. Several days after it was shot, Shaffer & 
Smather’s Deter No. 2 developed enough gas to force the bailer.(weighing 
several hundred pounds) out of the hole and up to the top of the derrick. 

A few wells such as Shaffer & Smather’s Deter No. 1 have yielded 
. no perceptible water at first but at such wells small quantities of water 
soon begin to appear and in a few weeks a considerable part of the 
production is water. 

The relation of the water to the oil has not been fully determined 
but it seems that the producing sand contains both water and oil and 
that to the north the sand is saturated with water. Generally the water 
is in the lower part of the sand and the oil in the upper part, and in 
no good oil well has a strong flow of water been found in the sand above 
the^oil; but in many wells the oil is present in several pay streaks sepa¬ 
rated by more or less non-porous sand or shale and with some water. 


30 


Many of the best wells have yielded from the beginning twice as much 
water as oil. The production of these wells does not appear to have 
dropped off more rapidly than any other wells, and the proportionate 
amount of salt water has remained about the same. It does not appear, 
therefore, that the pool is being flooded with salt water, though after 
some time such a condition may develop. It seems that oil, water, and 
gas are all three confined in the porous part of a layer of sandstone and 
that the production of the field will be limited only by the pore space in 
that sandstone. 

The total thickness of the pay sand averages 10 or 12 feet. The 
pore space has not been determined but probably amounts to about 10 
or 15 per cent of the rock. The total amount of oil in the pool, there¬ 
fore, may be very roughly estimated to be about 10,000,000 barrels. The 
minimum quantity recoverable is probably over a half, and possibly 
three-quarters or more, depending upon the movement of the water. 

The gravity of most of the oil is somewhat above 33 degrees Baume; 
some of it is as high as 37 or 38, and some is a little below 33 degrees. 
A sample from the south side of the Dieppenbrock farm was examined 
by Dr. David T. Day, who says that it is “well suited for refining, and 
is rich in good gasoline and illuminating oil,” and that it is “of the 
Crawford and Clark county type.” This sample had a specific gravity of 
0.8563 or 33.5° B. It began to boil at 105° C. Between 105° and 
150° it yielded 8cc of oil with a gravity of 0.7445 and between 150° 
and 300° yielded 33cc of a sp. g. of .1016. The residuum 57.5cc had a 
sp. g. of .9126. 

The oil from wells on the edges of the pool is remarkably dark and 
heavy. A sample from the Schulte farm at the southwest corner of the 
field yielded upon analysis only half as much gasoline and a third as 
much kerosene as the oil from within the pool and it showed the oil to 
be unsuitable for ordinary refining purposes. 

There is a rather large amount of waste oil but this is steamed and 
the part now actually wasted appears to be less than one per' cent of 
the whole production. The waste oil is burned in open pools and 
ditches, at considerable expense. 

Costs .—The price of leases includes about a dollar an acre as annual 
rental, and one-eighth of the oil and gas produced. In addition to this 
a “bonus * is commonly paid, the amount varying from a few cents to 
several hundred dollars an acre, according to the probabilitv of getting 
oil. The leasers receive either a salary or a commission of from one 
to ten cents an acre for the leases they secure. The contractor’s price 
for drilling is now $1.10 to $1.25 per foot, but was more at first on 
account of uncertainties regarding the character of the strata. It is 
greater in the case of deep wells, such as those which have been drilled 
over 2,000 feet, for which the contract price is about $2.00 per foot. 
The contractor bears the expense of everything but the casing and the 
shooting. He pays $5.00 a day for fuel, $3.00 a day for water, about 
$6.00 a day to each of his drillers, and $5.00 to each of the tool 
dressers. After drilling is completed the contractor receives about 
$20.00 a day for cleaning out the well. Pumps, power houses, and tanks 
constitute a large item of expense and the upkeep of the wells involves 


31 


a considerable outlay. Each lease lias its power houses from which ail 
the wells are pumped by means of “jacks.” After drilling is completed, 
three or four men, including farm boss and pumpers, are given steady 
work on each lease. 

Method of getting and handling the oil .—The drilling apparatus 
used includes many kinds of machines—Star, Parkersburg, National, 
and others—and both turnbuckle and standard rigs. To the drillers 
the standard and turnbuckle rigs are most desirable, but many con¬ 
tractors prefer machines because of the smaller initial outlay and the 
lower expense of moving. The drillers and tool dressers work twelve- 
hour tours, changing at noon and midnight. 

Four sizes of casing are used. The drive pipe is twelve and a half 
inches in diameter and about 50 or 60 feet long in order to reach the 
first hard rock. In some places where the upper limestone (Shoal Creek 
limestone of Illinois Survey reports) is absent, over a hundred feet of 
drive pipe have been used. Ten-inch pipe is used to hold the soft shales 
of the Carbondale and McLeansboro formations out of the hole and is 
about 650 feet long. Eight hundred and fifty feet of eight-inch casing 
are used to shut off the water from the Pottsville (“salt sands”). The 
smallest casing is six and a quarter inches in diameter. This holds back 
the soft shales of the Birdsville formation which would otherwise cave in 
and seriously hinder drilling in the oil sand. Over one thousand feet of 
this size are used. 

Upon reaching the pay sand, drilling is continued with much care 
in order to make sure of stopping before the oil is passed and water- 
-bearing rock tapped; but in order to be certain of having penetrated all 
the productive part of the sand, most wells are drilled until there are 
signs of increasing water or a change in the character of the sand. 

The wells are shot as soon as convenient after being finished. The 
amount of nitroglycerine used is generally about forty quarts, though 
in some wells with a poor showing of oil and a close, hard sand, as 
much as a hundred or more quarts have been used. The shot is com¬ 
monly anchored a foot or more above the bottom and is sometimes set 
off by the electric spark and sometimes bv dropping a dynamite cartridge 
with a fuse, into the hole. Before the shot is fired, the smallest casing 
is pulled and if the well promises to be a heavy producer, lead lines are 
made ready and connected so that only the first flow of oil is lost.. If 
there is not a large showing of oil before the well is shot lead lines are 
generally not needed until the hole has been cleaned. 

Most of the wells flow within ten minutes after the explosion but 
many of them “bridge over ” and do not develop enough pressure to 
break the bridge. Indeed, Murphy No. 5, the heaviest producer in the 
field was so effectually plugged by the shot that it was thought to be 
below the average until the tools were let down and the bridge broken. 

After the shot, the best wells flow intermittently (“by heads”) for 
several weeks. One well, Schomaker No. 1, had been flowing over four 
months at the time this examination was made. The lighter wells are 
“put to pumping” within a few days after being shot. 


32 


The oil goes first to a tall, slender “gun barrel" tank where most of 
the water settles to the bottom and flows out automatically. The oil 
is then conducted to a tank where it is steamed to separate more water 
from the oil. Finally, after the, waste oil has settled, been drawn off, 
and the gager has measured the amount of oil, the tanks are opened and 
the oil is forced into pipe lines by means of small steam engines. 

Accidents .—Several more or less serious accidents have occurred. 
One man was badly burned at the Bond well engine and several have 
received somewhat painful injuries while unloading casing. Two men 
have been seriously injured by blown-off well caps. 

Fire Losses .—There has been but one important fire in the Carlyle 
field. This one, on the east eighty of the Deter farm was caused by a 
waste oil fire which became uncontrollable. Several tanks of oil and one 
drilling outfit were destroyed, entailing a loss of several thousand dollars. 

WELL RECORDS. 

The following records have been chosen as representative of the wells 
in the Carlyle pool and surrounding territory: 

WELLS IN' THE CARLYLE FIELD. 

Well No. on Henry Wilkins farm. 

Location—S. E. 14 sec. 10, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 

Altitude—465 feet. • 


Thickness Depth 

—feet. —feet. 


Clay, sand and gravel, containing some peat, water, and gas. 

130 

130 

Shale. . 

20 

150 

“Shell”. 

10 

160 

Shale.!.... 

20 

ISO 

Sandstone (water). 

15 

195 

Shale. . 

35 

230 

“Shell”. 

10 

240 

Shale.'. 

110 

350 

Limestone. 

20 

370 

Shale. 

20 

390 

“Shell”. 

30 

420 

Shale. 


435 

Coal. . 


437 

“Slate and shells”. 

243 

680 

Sandstone (salt water). 

20 

700 

Shale..1 . 

45 

745 

“Shell”. 

15 

760 

Shale. . 

55 

815 

“Cave”. 

25 

840 

Limestone.. 

30 

870 

Shale. 

20 

890 

Limestone. 

00 

950 

Shale. 

15 

965 

Limestone. 

20 

985 

Shale. 

19 

1,004 

“Shell”. 

14 

1,018 

Shale. . 

5 

1,023 

“Shell”. 

3 

l'026 

Shale. 

3 

1,029 

Sandstone (dry). 

17 

1,046 

Sandstone (oil).. 

11 

1,057 













































33 


'Well No. 2 on NE. part of Deter farm. 

Location—S. W. % of N. E. y 4 sec. 2, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 
Altitude—465 feet. 



Thickness 

—feet. 

Depth 

—feet. 


49 

49 

Limestone. 

8 

210 

50 

Shale. 

900 

Limestone. 

s 


Shale. 

Q2 


Red rock. 

10 

970 

Limestone. 

a 

970 

Shale. 

*34 

410 

Limestone. 

5 

41 5 

Coal. 

c; 

490 

Shale. 

1.5 

495 

Limestone. 

45 

480 

Shale. 

70 

sso 

Limestone. 


5.59 

Shale. 

87 

'iQO 

Red rock. 

20 

610 

Shale. 

86 

0Q6 

Sandstone (salt water). 

81 

777 

Shale. 

63 

840 

Sandstone, show of gas 1 . 

10 

850 

Sandstone and limestone. 


855 

Shale. 

27 

882 

Limestone... 

43 

925 

Shale. 

20 

945 

Limestone. 

35 

980 

Shale. 

15 

995 

Limestone. 


1 000 

Shale. 

23 

1 023 

Shale, sandy. 

11 

1 034 

Sandstone, show of oil. 

1 

1,035 

Sandstone. 

6 

1,041 

Sandstone (oil). 

5 

1,046 

Sandstone (oil and gas). 

6 

1,052 





1 In the No. 1 well on this lease 400 feet from No. 2 salt water and gas were found in this sand in such 
quantities that drilling was stopped for four hours. 


Well No. 6 on Smith farm. 

Location—N. W. % N. W. % sec. 11, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 
Altitude—468 feet. 


Thickness 

—feet. 

' 

Depth 

—feet. 

Soil . 

S 

8 

Gravel and sand... 

17 

25 


42 

67 


20 

87 

Shale, hard . 

113 

200 

Shale' . . . 

200 

400 

Limestone . 

5 

405 

Shale, hard .. 

5 

410 

Limestone . .-. 

20 

430 


6 

436 

Shale, hard . 

45 

481 

Sand and water _ . 

10 

491 

Shale blank . 

34 

525 

"Slate” . 

45 

570 

. . . 

5 

575 

"Slate” . 

10 

585 


3 

588 

Shale hlaek . 

22 

610 

"Slate”. 

10 

620 


-3 Gr 







































































34 


Well No. 6 on Smith farm —Concluded. 



Thickness 

—feet. 

Depth 

—feet. 

Sandstone. 

19 

639 

“ Slate’’. 

36 

675 

Sandstone (salt water) . 

48 

723 

Shale... 

4 

727 

Sandstone (salt water). 

31 

758 

Shale. 

10 

768 

“Slate”. 

12 

780 

Sandstone and shale. 

20 

800 

“•Slate”. 

GS 

868 

“Shell”.. 

4 

872 

Sandstone and shale. 

18 

890 

“Slate”. 

15 

905 

Sandstone( salt water).1. 

12 

917 

“Slate”. 

43 

960 

Limestone. 

12 

972 

“Slate”. 

10 

982 

Limestone. 

53 

1,035 

Sandstone and shale. 

8 

1.043 

1,048 

1,066 

“Slate”. 

5 

Sandstone.*. 

18 




Well No. 1 on the McCabe farm. 

Location—S. W. % N. E. % sec. 3, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 
Altitude—464 feet. 


• 

Thickness 
—feet. 

Depth 
—feet. 

Soil. 

5 

5 

Clay, sandy. 

56 

61 

Shale. . 

319 

3S0 

Limestone. 

11 

391 

Shale. 

8 

399 

Coal. 

12 

411 

“Slate”. 

165 

576 

Sandstone (salt water). 

15 

591 

Shale... 

25 

616 

Sandstone (salt water). 

94 

710 

Shale and sandstone... 

130 

840 

Shale. 

10 

850 

Sandstone (gas). 

20 

870 

Sandstone (oil). 

35 

905 

Shale. 

45 

950 

Limestone. 

48 

998 

Shale.. 

23 

1,021 

Sandstone (gas). 

13 

1,034 

1,053 

Sandstone (oil). 

19 



I v 

























































35 


Well No. 1 on Kcirhoff farm. 

Location—N. E. % N. W. % sec. 10, T. 2N..R 3 W 
Altitude—469 feet. 



Thickness 
—feet. 

Depth 
—feet. 

Soil. 

OS 

9~ 

Gravel. 

in 

or: 

“ Hard pan”. 

oc 

OO 

70 

Gravel (water). 

o 0 
c 


Limestone. 


Q9 

Shale. 

i 

1 IQ 

900 

Limestone. 



Shale. 

oo 

/inn 

Limestone. 

100 

fS 

40^ 

Shale. 

i n 

a i f; 

Limestone. 


490 

Coal. . 

a 

490 

Shale. 

1 (KA 

^QO 

Limestone. 

10 ^ 

in 

000 

Shale. 

11 A 

714 

Sandstone (salt water). 

15 

qi 

729 

700 

Shale. . 

Sandstone (salt water). 

30 

790 

7Q5 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

5 

Qn 

800 

810 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

10 

AO 

840 

Shale. 

880 

Limestone. 


895 

Shale. 

10 

895 

Limestone. 

25 

920 

Shale. 

10 

930 

Limestone. 

10 

940 

Shale. 

72 

1 012 

Limestone. 

13 

1 ’ 025 

Shale. 

13 

1 038 

Sandstone (oil). 

21 

1,059 

Shale. 

16 

1 075 

Limestone. 


1,082 

Shale. 

3 

1,085 

Limestone. 

12 

1,097 

Shale. 

3 

1,100 



• 


Well N o. 1 on Treat-Crawford Deter lease. 

Location—S. E. % S. W. % sec. 2, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 
Altitude—472 feet. 



Thickness 
—feet. 

Depth 
—feet. 

4 

Clay and gravel. 

56 

56 

Limestone. 

6 

62 

“Slate and shells”. 

375 

437 

Limestone. 

1 

438 


7 

445 


224 

669 

Limestone. . . 

A 10 

679 


35 

714 

Sandstone (salt water) . . 

39 

753 


12 

765 

Sandstone (salt water) . 

11 

776 


17 

793 

Sandstone fsa.lt water 1 . 

5 

798 


22 

820 

Limestone. 

8 

828 









































































3 G 


Well No. 1 on Treat-Craw ford Deter lease —Concluded. 



Thickness 
—feet. 

Depth 

—feet. 

“Slate and shells”. 

127 

955 

Limestone. 

2 

957 

Sandstone. 

8 

965 

“Slate and shells”. 

63 

1,028 

Limestone. 

16 

1,044 

Sandstone. 

2 

1,046 

Sandstone and shale. 

3 

1,049 

Sandstone (gas). 

4 

1,053 

Sandstone (oil). 

5 

1,058 

Shale...;. 

2 

1,060 

Sandstone (oil). 

4 

1,064 




WELLS OUTSIDE. THE CARLYLE FIELD. 



Well No. 1 on Holthaus farm. 



Location—S. E. % S. E. % sec. 29, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 



Altitude — 440 feet. 




Thickness 

Depth 

• 

—feet. 

—feet. 


Drift. 

Shale.'. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Coal. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Coal. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Coal. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Sandstone. 

Shale. 

Sandstone (salt water) 

Shale.. 

Sandstone (salt water) 

Shale. 

Sandstone (salt water) 

Shale. 

Sandstone. 

Limestone. 

Sandstone and shale.. 

Shale. i 

Sandstone (salt water) 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Red rock. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Red rock. 

Shale. 

Limestone. 

Shale. 

Sandstone. 


78 

78 

40 

118 

6 

124 

32 

156 

3 

159 

52 

211 

5 

216 

53 

269 

6 

275 

35 

310 

4 

314 

20 

334 

12 

346 

16 

362 

43 

405 

11 

416 

4 

420 

35 

455 

24 

479 

3 

482 

30 

512 

12 

524 

23 

547 

24 

571 

26 

597 

43 

640 

12 

652 

55 

707 

8 

715 

34 

749 

20 

769 

12 

781 

8 

789 

18 

807 

12 

819 

10 

829 

4 

833 

44 

877 

3 

880 

5 

885 

20 

905 

26 

931 

10 

941 

20 

961 

25 

986 

14 

1,000 

10 

1,010 










































































37 


Well No. 1 on Ilolthaus farm —Concluded. 



Thickness 

—feet. 

Depth • 
—feet. 

Shale.,. 

12 

1,022 

Sandstone (salt water).’. 

38 

1,060 

Shale.•.. 

12 

1,072 

Limestone. 

8 

1,080 

Shale. 

20 

1,106 

Limestone. 

8 

1,108 

Shale. 

6 

1,114 

Red rock. 

4 

1,118 

Limestone. 

12 

1.130 

Red rock. 

15 

1 ,145 

Sandstone (salt water). 

20 

l f 165 

Shale.'... 

5 

l'l70 

Sandstone (salt water). 

50 

l' 220 

Shale. 

5 

1,225 

Limestone. 

10 

T 235 

Sandstone (salt water). 

53 

T 288 




Well No. 2 on A. Beclcemeyer farm. 



Location—N. E. % N. W. % sec. 22, T. 2 N., R. 3 W. 



Altitude—455 feet. 




Thickness 

Depth 


—feet. 

—feet. 


5 

5 

Sanri and gravel. 

50 

55 

Limestone . 

15 

70 

“Slate” . 

70 

140 


10 

150 


150 

300 

Limestone . 

8 

308 

“Slate” .. 1 . 

67 

375 


60 

435 

“Slate” . 

4 

439 


6 

445 


10 

455 

“Slate” . 

165 

620 

SonHutniip fsalt. wa.t.P.rt . 

10 

630 

•“ Slate” . 

60 

690 

Sanrlstn-nP /’salt. watfir! . 

90 

780 


20 

800 

Sflnri stone . 

20 

820 


5 

825 


10 

835 


30 

865 

Ha nHofnnp /"salt. wat.Prl . 

35 

900 


10 

910 


10 

920 


20 

940 


15 

955 


5 

960 


35 

995 


15 

1,010 


18 

1,028 


51 

1,079 


5 

1,084 







































































38 





THE CARLINVILLE OIL AND GAS FIELD. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


Introduction. 

Location and extent. 

History... 

Topography. 

Relief. 

Drainage. 

Geology. 

Stratigraphy. 

Glacial drift. 

“Coal Measures” rocks.. 
Carlinville limestone 

Coal No. G. 

Mississippian rocks. 

Structure. 

Oil and gas. 

The sands.. .. 

Production. 

Development. 

Character of oil and gas. 

Relation to structure. 

Probable extension of field.. 


Page . 
39 

39 

40 
40 
40 
40 

49 
40 

40 

41 

42 

42 

43 

44 
44 

44 

45 
45 
48 
48 

50 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Plates. 


VIII. Map of Carlinville and vicinity showing geological structure of the oil sands, location of 


wells, properties, etc. 40 

IX. Structure section A-A from west to east through Carlinville field. 44 

X. Structure section B-B from south to north through Carlinville field. 4G 




























39 


THE CARLINVILLE OIL AND GAS FIELD. 

(By Fred H. Kay.) 


INTRODUCTION. 

This paper is a preliminary report on the Carlinville oil and gas field, 
and is designed to meet the needs of operators who are attempting to 
locate the most favorable areas for the accumulation of oil and gas. 
Data, are too meagre at the present time for the deduction of final con¬ 
clusions regarding the possibilities of the field, but it is hoped that this 
presentation of available information will be of some use in pointing 
out the geologic structure of the field, and thereby limiting prudent 
exploration to the most favorable localities. 

Acknowledgements are due to the operators who have freely submitted 
information regarding their wells, and especially to Mr. Thomas 
Rinaker for hearty cooperation, and for the use of a large number of 
data in his possession. 

This report is an amplification of one made by Mr. R. S. Blatchley in 
Bulletin 16 of the State Geological Survey, 1910, and is based on more 
recent data than were available when Mr. Blatchley made his investiga¬ 
tion of this field. 


LOCATION AND EXTENT. 

The Carlinville oil and gas field is near Carlinville, Macoupin county,.. 
Illinois. Up to December 1, 1911, twenty-five wells had been drilled 
within a radius of five miles from town. The productive area, however,, 
is three miles southwest of Carlinville in sections 7 and 8, T. 9 N., 
R. 7 W., as shown by Plate VIII. 

The recent discovery of a commercial quantity of oil in addition to 
the gas for which the field has heretofore been known has stimulated 
interest, and has encouraged operators to undertake further prospecting. 

Not enough drilling has been done to outline the productive field, but 
the principal wells lie in an elliptical area, the main axis of which is 
about one mile in length, extending from the central-eastern part of 
section 7, northeast into section 8. The minor or north-south axis is 
about one-quarter mile in length, drilling having been confined to the 
flood plain of Macoupin creek. 




40 


HISTORY. 

The first drilling in this field was done about 1867 by St. Louis 
capital. One well was put down without striking oil and was aban¬ 
doned. No further efforts were made until 1909, when the Impromptu 
Exploration Company drilled several wells and developed enough gas 
for illuminating purposes in the town of Carlinville. 

Although most of the drilling has been done by the Impromptu 
Exploration Company, the following operators have put down one or 
more holes: E. E. Chrysler; C. J. Lumpkin and associates; John 
Bunn; Andrew Benson; Ohio Consolidated Oil Co.; E. A. Ibbetson. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 

Relief. 

The Carlinville area is one of moderate relief. The upland prairies 
are level or gently rolling, and in most cases are less than 100 feet 
above the valley floors of the larger streams. The topography becomes 
rugged near the valleys of the principal drainage lines, and although 
the relief is not great, it is sufficient to characterize the wooded hills 
bordering the valleys as the “broken country.” 

No precise levels have been run in this district by the Survey and for 
the present report, Carlinville is considered to be 664 feet above sea 
level, this being the elevation given by the Chicago & Alton Railroad 
for their station. 


Drainage. 

The main drainage line is Macoupin creek, which flows southwest 
through the district. This creek and its tributaries have cut valleys 
about 100 feet below the general level of the country, and the main flood 
plain, upon which most of the drilling has been done, is wide enough 
to be a conspicuous feature of the topography. At times of high water 
a large area bordering Macoupin creek is submerged, and sometimes, 
especially in the spring, surface water covers the casings and fills the 
wells. Run-off is rapid, however, and drilling operations are not often 
interrupted for any considerable time. 


GEOLOGY. 

Stratigraphy. 

GLACIAL DRIFT. 

Most of the bed-rock in the Carlinville field is covered by a variable 
•amount of clays, sands, and gravels which constitute the glacial drift. 
The thickness of this material varies in different parts of Macoupin 
county, from a thin covering, up to 200 feet; the irregularity being 




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































41 


due to the uneven character of the surface upon which the drift was 
deposited. The extreme thicknesses, such as those of 200 feet, are prob¬ 
ably the result of the filling of pre-glacial valleys. Macoupin creek 
and its tributaries have carried away much of the surface material along 
their channels, and in some places have exposed the underlying rocks. 

‘"coal measures" rocks. 

All of the stratified rocks exposed in the Carlinville field belong to 
the series known as the “Coal Measures.” Although the series as a 
whole may be described as consisting of shales, sandstones, a minor 
amount of limestone and several beds of coal, it is usually impossible 
to correlate individual beds in different well logs with any degree of 
exactness. I hree horizons—the Carlinville limestone, coal No. 6, and 
the oil and gas zone at the base—are persistent, but the intervening 
shales, although constant in thickness, are changeable in character. 

The rocks above the oil sands in the Carlinville field have been 
divided by geologists into two parts, the name McLeansboro being 
assigned to the beds from the first solid rock near the surface, down 
to the top of coal No. G. The beds above the oil sands up to and includ¬ 
ing coal No. G are known as the Carbondale formation. 

The Carbondale varies in thickness from 200 to 250 feet; and since 
the McLeansboro was subject to erosion in pre-glacial times, its thick¬ 
ness is even more variable. Best No. 1 and Sellers No. 1 showed 200 
feet of this formation, but the average for the field is lower. Barnstable 
No. 1 penetrated 550 feet of “Coal Measures” rocks. This figure is 
from 50 to 100 feet in excess of that for a majority of the wells in the 
Carlinville field. The following section gives a general idea of the 
position and thickness of the upper part of the “Coal Measures” strata. 1 


Record of Weir's shaft, Carlinville. 



Depth 
to top- 
feet. 

Thickness. 
—feet. 

Depth 
to bottom 
—feet. 

Drift clays. 


75 

75 

103 h 

104 

Shale, soft. . 

75 

m 

l 

5' 

Coal, soft. 

103£ 

104' 

Fire clays, dark and light. 

109 

Sandstone and shale. 

109 

70 

179 

Clay shale. 

179 

15 

194 

Shale, dark. 

194 

6 

200 

Coal, soft, smutty... 

200 

5 

205 

Fire clav . 

205 

6 

211* 

Sandstone..... 

211 

8 h 

2 

219* 
2211 
224i 
2251 
227 

Clay shale.- - 

219| 

221* 

224i 

Limestone. 

3 

Clay shale.-. 

1 

H 

Limestone . _ . ..... 

225| 

227 


li 

228£ 

235 

Shale . 

2281 



235' 

235i 

238 

TTire elav .. 

2351 

238 

2| 

12 

TTorH rnnl- r-nrnhahltr limoQtnnp nr limev snnrLtnnpl - 


250 


250 

5 

255 

Tiimestone . 

255 

5 

260 

Shale, black . 

260 

4 

264 

Coal . 

264 

6 

270 





i Worthen, A. H., Geol. Survey, Illinois, Vol. V, 1873, p. 289. 



































42 


Carlinville limestone. —No. 11 of the section is a seven-foot bed of 
hard, gray limestone known as the Carlinville. This limestone, which 
is frequently exposed, and which forms the bed rock in most of the 
field, has been traced from the vicinity of LaSalle, Ill., south to Car¬ 
linville, thence southeast into Saline county. Because of its occurrence 
over this large area, it constitutes a useful key horizon in any attempt 
to determine the structural geology of the field. Its absence in some 
of the wells is due, no doubt, to erosion prior to the deposition of the 
glacial material. 

The following detailed sections of the Carlinville limestone are taken 
from a report by Mr. J. A. Udden. 1 

Exposures on the Walker farm NE. 1-2 sec. 35 , T. 10 N., R. 7 W. 

Feet. 

3. Limestone, chocolate colored, coarse grained in beds % to 6 inches 


in thickness. 3*4 

2. Shales, gray ...*. 10 

1. Limestone, very hard, bluish gray, in seams varying from 3, 8, to 

12 inches; brown on weathering . 2 


In the NW. 14 sec. 31, T. 10 N., R. 7 W., the same limestone as bed 
No. 1 of the section given above, occurs with a thickness of 6 feet. It 
is exposed on the east side of Spanish Needles creek in the NW. %, 
sec. 21, T. 9 N., R. 7 W., and in a small tributary to this creek in the 
NW. 1/4 sec. T. 9 N., R. 7 W. It outcrops at a few places in the 
channel of Macoupin creek. Mr. Udden says: “The Carlinville lime¬ 
stone averages about seven feet in thickness. It is generally buish gray, 
compact, close textured and very hard, breaking into irregular pieces. 
On weathering it assumes a rusty color. Two features are characteristic 
of this limestone, one, a blotchy appearance and the other its tendency 
to weather into seams two and one-half to three inches in thickness.” 
About 15 feet above the Carlinville limestone and overlying gray shales, 
a 4-foot bed of coarse-grained, chocolate-colored limestone occurs, which, 
in some places, has the appearance of a sandstone because of the presence 
of sand grains and flakes of mica. This limestone disintegrates easily, 
and can usually be distinguished without difficulty from the harder Car¬ 
linville bed. 

Coal No. 6 . —Although seyeral coal horizons are usually penetrated by 
the drill, only No. 6 holds its thickness and general characteristics over 
a considerable area. This coal, which averages about 6% feet in thick¬ 
ness, occurs 200 to 220 feet below the Carlinville limestone. Some of the 
wells, such as Klein No. 1, Y. Hall No. 5, McClure No. 1, and M. F. 
Hall No. 1, show no coal. It is possible that in some cases black shale 
represents the coal horizons, but it is most probable that the absence of 
coal is due to erosion prior to the deposition of the glacial drift. 

The sands vary in thickness from a few feet to about seventy feet 
and are believed to constitute the Pottsville formation, tying at the base 
of the coal measures. 


1 Udden, J. A., The Shoal Creek limestone, Bull. Geol. Survey, Illinois, No. 8, 1907, p. 120. 






43 


MISSISSIPPI AN POCKS. 

I) nderneath the sands, the drill usually strikes limestone which is sup¬ 
posed to be either Ste. Genevieve or St. Louis limestone of Mississippian 
age, although no samples of this formation have been examined. The 
Chester shales, sandstones, and limestones, which underlie the State 
south of Carlinville, and which include most of the producing sands of 
the main oil fields, are absent in this field. This signifies that wdiile the 
Chester beds were being deposited to the south, the Carlinville area was 
a land surface, subject to erosion. The fact that the Pottsville beds were 
afterward deposited upon an uneven surface, accounts for some of the 
irregularities in the thickness of the sands. The log of F. Hall No. 1 
in the W. % SW. *4, sec. 5, T. 9 N., K. 7 W., furnishes the deepest 
record in the field and is published herewith: 


Record of F. IlaR well, No. 1. 


Location—W. i/ 3 S. W. % sec. 5, T. 9 N., R. 7 W. 
Elevation—655 feet above sea level. 



Depth 
to top— 
feet. 

Thickness 

—feet. 

Depth 
to bottom 
—feet. 

Surface. 


40 

40 

78 

215 

223 

233 

237 

243 

251 

Soapstone. 

40 

38 

Slate. 

78 

137 

Limestone, white. 

215 

8 

Shale, black and coal. 

223 

10 

Lime shell. 

233 

4 

Slate, white.. 

237 

6 

Lime. 

243 

8 

Slate, white . 

251 

39 

290 

293 


290 

3 

Slate, white . 

293 

57 

350 

Shale, brown . 

350 

8 

358 

Slate, white, sandy. 

358 

137 

' 495 

Sand, coarse (Va,s?l. 

495 

10 

505 

570 

Sand, soft, salt water. 

505 

65 

Lime sandy hard ("fresh water at 7001. 

570 

156 

726 

Sand, salt . 

726 

5 

731 

Limestone hard . 

731 

24 

755 

Water sand .- - - • 

755 

20 

775 

Limestone . .. 

775 

. 25 

SOO 

Limestone and shale _ . 

soo 

13 

813 

Limestone and sand . 

813 

25 

838 

Limestone broken . 

838 

32 

870 

Limestone brown . 

870 

15 

885 


885 

10 

895 

Sand cra.v . 

895 

25 

920 


920 

48 

968 

T,imActnnp <;onH \r ( <5A.It. wa.tPr^ 

968 

247 

1.215 

1,225 

1,250 

TfimPQt.rmp t*pH n.nri brown . 

1,215 

10 

T.impQtnnP ptav _ .. 

1,225 

25 

ftlflfp licrht oolorpd . 

1,250 

50 

1,300 

TfimPQtrmp brown _ . 

1,300 

8 

1,308 

ftlpfp blank frrit.t.v . . 

1,308 

87 

1,395 


1,395 

160 

1,555 


1,555 

45 

1,600 


1,600 

135 

1.735 


1,735 

179 

1,914 

2,107 


1,914. 

193 























































44 


Structure. 

Since most of the rocks are covered by a mantle of glacial drift, the 
arrangement of the beds and the “lay” of the sands must be determined 
by a study of the well logs. The map which accompanies this report 
(Plate VIII) shows contour lines drawn with a ten-foot interval, con¬ 
necting those points on the top of the oil sands which have the same 
elevations above sea level. The elevations of the wells were determined 
by stadia surveys and the altitude of the oil sands were obtained by sub¬ 
tracting from the well elevation, the amount of material above the sands, 
as shown by the well logs. 

The present wells roughly outline a fold of considerable intensity but 
of small areal extent. The apex or highest point is probably reached 
by Klein No. 1, located in the NE, y 2 , SE. 14 s€c - 7. In it the sand 
occurs 238 feet above sea level, or more than 100 feet higher than the 
corresponding sands in Klein No. 2, which is but one-half mile south. 
The general shape of the fold resembles the bowl of an inverted spoon, 
its longest axis extending about N. 60° E. from the center of the eastern 
half of sec. 7, T. 9 N., R. 7 W. 

Plates IX and X indicate the dips along lines A-A and B-B of Plate 
VIII. From Klein No. 1, the strata dip steeply to the north, west and 
south, but more gently to the east. In Hall No. 5, near the center of 
sec. 8, the productive sands are found only 24 feet lower than those in 
Klein No. 1. East of Hall No. 5 the sands show a dip of 34 feet to 
McClure No. 1, which is 600 feet distant. No accurate information is 
available for the territory east of the McClure wells, except the logs of 
Sellers No. 1 in the SE. 14 , NW. % sec. 10, and Best No. 1, in the 
NE. 14 sec. 10. In the former, the sands were found at 107 feet above 
sea level, and in the latter, at 76 feet; thus showing a continuation of 
the general dip noted in the E. Vo sec. 8. 


OIL AND GAS. 

The Sands. 

Although the productive sands are not invariably found at the same 
stratigraphic position, they lie near the base of the coal measures, and 
are believed to constitute the Pottsville formation. 

A study of the well logs reveals the fact that no single sand is trace¬ 
able throughout the field. Adjacent wells do not show the same strati¬ 
graphic succession, although in a general way the rocks consist of shale, 
sandstone, and minor amounts of limestone. Furthermore, the produc¬ 
ing sands vary in thickness from 2 or 3 feet up to 70 feet, and this 
change occurs within comparatively short distances. In Klein No. 2 
the sand is apparently absent, and in its place is a sandy shale which 
lacks sufficient porosity to permit the accumulation of oil. 

In view of the irregularity in the development of the sands it seems 
best not to attempt the correlation of individual beds, but to consider 



ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


BULL. NO. 20, PLATE IX. 









































































































































































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45 


tliem as members of a series occurring in a zone about 70 feet thick and 
beginning about 200 feet below coal No. 6. The beds in this zone con¬ 
sist chiefly of coarse and fine sands, but the local thinning out of the 
sands is probably due to the fact that at the time of deposition the sedi¬ 
ments were not clear sands, but a mixture of sands, muds, and silts. 
This mixture has resulted in the absence here and there of sands capable 
of acting as reservoirs for commercial amounts of oil and gas. 

In many of the wells, the productive sand is separated into two parts 
by a “break” of variable thickness. In some cases, as in McClure No. 3, 
the “break” marks the boundary between the oil and gas. 

The variability in the thickness of the productive sands is probably 
due, not so much to a change in the amount of sand, as to its change 
in character from place to place. Oil and gas naturally accumulate in 
the more porous parts of a sand, leaving the compact portions practi¬ 
cally dry. 

Production. 

Until November, 1911, the Carlinville wells were known chiefly for 
gas. Y. Hall No. 1 produced from 4 to 5 barrels of oil daily, but this 
was not utilized to any extent. The gas wells showed an initial pressure 
of about 135 pounds, but the drain on the supply, together with the addi¬ 
tional drilling in the gas area, has reduced the pressure to about 35 
pounds. 

The production of the McClure oil wells in sec. 9, T. 9 N., R. 7 W., 
has not been determined accurately. None of the wells have been shot, 
and the drillers* estimates are based upon the showing while drilling in. 
It is probable that McClure Nos. 1 and 3 are capable of producing an 
average of 10 barrels daily. 


Development. 

The following table shows the development in the Carlinville field, and 
contains well data gathered from various operators and drillers: 


i 


Partial record of Carlinville wells. 


46 


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ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


BULL. NO. 20, PLATE X. 


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48 


Character of Oil and Gas. 

The gas is of good quality. It has little odor and burns with a hot 
blue flame. Mr. Kinaker reports that the gas in Klein No. 2 was noted 
only as it was liberated from the slightly brackish water bailed from the 
lower part of the well. When ignited at the top of the bailer, the gas 
burned with a faint bluish flame and with an odor resembling alcohol. 
The water, freed from the gas, settled as much as two feet in the bailer. 

The oil is dark brown by transmitted light and nearly black by re¬ 
flected light. Two samples "from V. Hall No. 1 and McClure No. 3 have 
a specific gravity of 28.6° Baume. The oil is similar in physical respects, 
to that at Duncanville, Illinois, which is utilized almost entirely as fuel. 

Relation of Oil and Gas to Structure. 

It is generally assumed when oil and gas occur near the top of a dome,, 
as at Carlinville, that they are field in position by the salt water below. 
If this were not true the oil would settle of its own weight into the lowest 
parts of the productive sand. 

In case the oil is not sufficiently abundant to saturate the sands above 
the level of salt water, the gas occupies the crest of the dome above the 
oil. The latter, resting on the salt water below, holds an intermediate 
position and, in most cases, is charged with gas from above because of 
the great pressure exerted by the underlying water. 

The Carlinville dome, although irregular in shape, appears to con¬ 
form in general, to the ideal dome. The gas wells are located at or 
near the crest of the fold. Klein No. 1 in the E. %, SE. 14 sec. 7, 
T. 9 N., R. 7 W. reaches the sand at 238 feet above sea level. The 
sands in the V. Hall gas wells, sec. 8, although about 24 feet lower than 
in Klein No. 1, do not reach the level of the oil. In some cases, the gas 
sands are discolored and probably show the former presence of oil at a 
time when the salt water level was somewhat higher than at present. 
As the water level was lowered, the oil settled down dip by its own 
weight, and drained the upper part of the sands, leaving them dis¬ 
colored, perhaps, but with no free oil. 

The gas accompanying brackish water in Klein No. 2 in the E. 

NE. ^4 sec. 8, has been noted on a previous page. Its occurrence is 
exceptional. The water, charged with gas, was found in a sand at a 
depth of 450 feet, or 130 feet above sea level. Thus it occurs at a lower 
level than the bulk of the oil and gas in the field. 

It is probable that a very small fold or flattening of the beds with 
steeper dips above and below, occurs in the vicinity of Klein No. 2. A 
small amount of oil and gas on its way upward to the top of the water¬ 
bearing sand did not reach the crest of the dome, but was trapped in 
the minor fold below. The pressure developed was probably sufficient 
to cause most of the gas to be dissolved in the water, where it w r as held 
until the pressure was relieved by the drilling of Klein No. 2. 

The oil has come into prominence only recently. Y. Hall No. 1 in 
the NW. SW. sec. 8 and McClure Nos. 1 and 3 in the SW. ^4, 
NE. % sec. 8, are the only w T ells so placed that they penetrate the zone 


49 


of free oil. These wells are located down dip from the top of the dome, 
and all three reach oil at the same elevation above sea level. Up to 
the present time, no commercial amount of oil has been found in the 
Carlinville dome at a higher altitude than 184 feet above sea level. The 
lower limit of the oil sands and the areas considered most favorable 
for prospecting will be discussed under a later heading. 

Since salt water immediately underlies the oil, any information re¬ 
garding its position is of utmost importance. Somewhat unusual con¬ 
ditions obtain in the Carlinville dome. The oil sand has been found 
dry in the McClure wells at 162 feet above sea level. In Y. Hall No. 
5—600 feet west of McClure No. 1—troublesome salt water was reached 
at an elevation of 210 feet. V. Hall No. 4 shows salt water in the 
upper part of the dome. 

It is almost certain that these higher bodies of salt water are not part 
of the general zone of saturation. It has been mentioned above that the 
sands are more or less irregular or lenticular. Since this is true, it is 
possible that certain lenses, surrounded by impervious beds, are capable 
of holding salt water at a higher level than would be possible if the 
sands were all of the same horizon and continuous. 

Another explanation for the higher salt water in the Y. Hall wells, 
attributes the “drowning” of the sands to the fact that no effort was 
made to shut out the water in the old well of 1867, which was located 
near the east quarter corner of section 7. So far as can be learned, this 
well was drilled deep enough to reach salt water and upon abandonment 
no attempt was made to protect the adjacent sands from “drowning.” 
It is probable that for many years the salt water has percolated slowly 
down dip from the well and has affected a considerable territory in 
section 8. 

The level of salt water in the neighborhood of the Carlinville dome 
is difficult to determine accurately from the available data. The log of 
Haacke No. 1 in the SW. %, NW. V±, sec - 1?, shows salt water at a 
depth of 421 feet or 156 feet above sea level. E. W. Denby No. 1 in 
the SE. corner, NE. y 4 , sec. 7 reaches salt water at 427 feet, or 145 
feet above sea level. F. Ha'll No. 1 in the NW. y 4 , SW. y 4 , sec. 5, T. 
9 N., R. 7 W., taps the same -horizon at a depth of 505 feet, or 150 feet 
above the sea. 

On account of the uncertain thickness of the sands, great care must 
be exercised while drilling, in order not to tap the salt water after 
reaching “pay.” In Y. Hall No. 5, in the SE. y 4 , NW. y 4 , sec. 8, 
although the sand was penetrated only 9 feet, salt water was present on 
the day following the completion of the well and has continued to be 
very troublesome. McClure Nos. 1 and 3, end in sand only a few feet 
above the general level of salt water in the district, and any attempt at 
“shooting” would probably admit bottom water. 


—4 G 


50 


Probable Extension of Field. 

It is unwise and, in fact, impossible to predict with certainty, the 
presence of oil and gas in any given locality. The Carlinville field 
presents difficulties because of the marked irregularity in the thickness 
and character of the sand. However, after a careful.study of all avail¬ 
able data, it is possible to point out the areas in which the geological 
structure is most favorable for the accumulation of these materials. 

It seems reasonable to expect* oil at about the same level on all sides 
of the irregular dome at distances from the central gas area, varying 
inversely as the dip of the oil sands (See map, Plate VIII). Because 
of the steep dips on the west side, the productive area will probably be 
narrower than on the east and northeast where the strata dip more 
gently. Whether or not oil will be found in commercial quantities is 
a question which can be settled only by the drill. The crest of the 
Carlinville dome has been tested by Klein No. 1 in the E. y 2 , SE. 
sec. 7 and the V. Hall gas wells in the western part of section 8. Only 
V. Hall No. 1 and McClure Nos. 1 and 3 tap the body of oil which is 
believed to extend around the irregular elongated dome. The salt water 
wells that have been drilled north, west, and south of the productive 
area, together with the apparent rapid dip of the sands away from the 
dome, seem to signify that in the eastern part of section 7, and in the 
western part of section 8, the productive zone will be narrow, and the 
location of successful oil wells most difficult. 

On the north side of the dome the E. 1/2, NW. %, sec. 8 seems 
to warrant testing. The V. Hall farm should be prospected by a well 
located on the south side of Macoupin creek near the east line of the 
property. The McClure farm, upon which considerable drilling is being 
done, lies along the main axis of the elongated dome, and contains the 
best oil wells developed in the field up to the present time. 

While the attitude of the sands northeast of the productive area is 
uncertain, it is believed that the dip in this direction is more gentle 
than that of the beds west of the dome. If this is true the sands may 
contain oil for a considerable distance northeast of the present area 
before reaching the level of salt-water saturation. At any rate, further 
prospecting should be done in a general northeast direction from Mc¬ 
Clure Nos. 1 and 3. 

It is hoped that in the near future, the State Geological Survey will 
be able to undertake further detailed investigations in Macoupin county, 
in an effort to locate other districts in which the structure is favorable 
for the accumulation of oil and gas. 

The Survey is always glad to cooperate with oil men and to give them 
the benefit of any studies which may be made. To this end, it is neces¬ 
sary that detailed logs be kept by the driller with careful identification 
of the materials passed through with each screw, v Any detailed informa¬ 
tion furnished by the operator will be held confidential if so desired. 































































































































































































